Nightmare School
by YumeNoAnata
Summary: One day Mai never turns up at SPR and Naru finds out it's because she is in a coma in hospital after being attacked. It's up to Naru to solve the case and to resolve his feelings for her before she slips away. NaruxMai
1. Chapter 1

**Nightmare School:**

 **Chapter 1:**

Mai looked around nervously as she ran down the dimly lit school corridor. Her short brown hair was a mess and her eyes were big with fear. She had to get away from them. She had been the only one to notice what was wrong. Or rather what was missing.

Now she had become a target.

She forced more air into her lungs and felt them burn with pain. Her stamina was wearing out and she was slowing down.

Her feet came to a stop with a squeak when she saw the figure in the shadows at the end of the corridor. Her already elevated heart rate sped up with panic.

She was trapped. She couldn't run back and she couldn't run forwards. She was going to die.

The sound of running footsteps behind her became louder as the figure in front of her approached her slowly.

Within seconds she was surrounded by the figures that had been pursuing her. The scariest one took time walking up to her. That figure raised his hand and she closed her eyes as the pain took over.

Her last thoughts as the blood drained out of her wounds were that Naru was going to find out everything. It was a ghost case. He had to solve it.

Even if he couldn't save her, he had to solve the case so no one else would end up like her.

* * *

Naru's favourite part of a weekday was when his assistant arrived at the office from school. It wasn't because she was his favourite person or anything like that. It was because he liked her tea.

By now he had observed her routine. She would arrive, call out a greeting to him and Lin, take off her coat and offer to make tea. Naturally he always replied in the affirmative and he had a steaming hot cup of tea within five minutes. That was the best part of the day for him.

He could always ask Lin to make tea for him, but Lin always gave him a look that said he had better things to do than make tea. The idea of making his own tea to drink never crossed his mind.

The narcissist checked the time on the clock on the wall of his office. If his calculations were correct and of course they were, Mai should arrive in the next ten minutes. He resumed reading his book to occupy his time and waited to hear the outer door open and Mai's cheerful voice.

He finished the fascinating chapter on cursed household objects and checked the clock. Fifteen minutes had passed. How strange.

Perhaps Mai had been delayed by gossiping classmates. It had happened once before. He had waited for so long that he had ended up giving her a lecture about punctuality when she had finally arrived.

He deemed that she was due another lecture if she did not arrive in the next twenty minutes. He was her employer, he had the right to do so.

He sat back down at his desk and opened his book again. Twenty minutes passed and he began to feel irritated. Naru swore that it was annoyance and not tea withdrawal symptoms.

Mai was definitely going to get a lecture now. It was hard telling her off when she looked at you with her wide eyes. He seemed to be the only person at SPR that was impervious to it. Lin and Bou-san couldn't bring themselves to tell her off anymore no matter what happened.

Deciding that it would have a greater effect on her if she found him lurking by the door instead of sitting in his office, he moved to the seating area and settled down there with his book. He always enjoyed the look on Mai's face when he surprised her.

Lin poked his head outside of his own office and took his headphones off to talk.

"Noll, Taniyama-san is thirty minutes late. Do you think there might be a problem?"

Naru disregarded that. "She is either gossiping or perhaps she ended up doing a favour for someone."

Another annoying thing about Mai was her selflessness. She was too kind and accepting. She hadn't batted an eyelid when he had returned to Japan and rehired her. He hadn't expected her to greet him so kindly. It was like _that_ conversation had never existed.

"Taniyama-san would call me if she was late," Lin pointed out. "She has done that before."

His assistant was annoyingly close to Lin now and seemed to find him easier to talk to.

"Well maybe she forgot to this time. Mai's memory is not too reliable."

Lin elected to not reply and withdrew into his office and the sound of typing started up again.

Sooner or later Mai would burst in and apologise, he would give her a lecture and she would make him tea. There wasn't anything untoward about her being late.

A cold feeling shot down his spine and he shivered. It couldn't be a sign that Mai was in trouble; he didn't have psychic abilities like that.

She had been looking worried for the past week. He hadn't known how to broach the subject with her so he had remained quiet.

His sharp eyes spotted a silhouette outside the frosted glass that looked like Mai. The door opened and someone with Mai's school uniform tiptoed in. Naru cleared his throat, ready to speak and was surprised to find that the girl wasn't Mai and there was another schoolgirl with her.

If he remembered correctly they were Mai's friends. He had met them during the first ever SPR case. One was Keiko and the other was Michiru. He wasn't sure on their surnames though.

"What business do you two have here?" he asked once he had recovered from the surprise.

The response was another shock.

"Mai-chan was attacked and taken to hospital. We want you to take on her case."

Naru stared at them. It wasn't that Mai had been late, she was unable to come. He should have been worried about it instead of being annoyed. He gripped the Michiru's shoulders.

"What do you mean 'attacked'?" he demanded forcefully.

"She was found unconscious during break time. There was blood everywhere. She was taken to the hospital."

"When did this happen?"

"The actual finding was less than two hours ago, we don't know how long it took to find her," she answered. "We came here as soon as school ended."

That was afternoon break. What could she have been doing that led to an attack? Had she empathised with a spirit and allowed herself to become possessed? The ringing of the office phone interrupted his harried thoughts and he vaguely registered that it had been picked up by Lin.

The dark haired omnouji burst out of his office.

"Taniyama has been attacked! She is at Matsuzaki-san's hospital."

Part of that was a relief to Naru. He knew Matsuzaki would do her best to take care of her.

Lin's eyes took in the presence of Mai's friends.

"Bou-san says we don't need to come immediately because he and Matsuzaki-san are watching over her. He says that we need to investigate the attack first."

"I see," Naru said. "Is she conscious yet?"

If he was being asked, not only by the monk, but Mai's friends to investigate there had to be something abnormal about the attack. The most obvious abnormality was that someone as kind as Mai had been attacked that badly.

His attention turned back to Michiru and Keiko. An interview was in order. This would be treated like a standard SPR case.

"Lin, make tea for the clients," he ordered and darted back to his office to retrieve his black notebook.

Mai's friends sat close together on the sofa opposite him. His experience in reading clients told him that they were scared and nervous. The arrival of Lin with tea did not have a calming effect.

Instead of returning to his office the omnouji sat down next to him. "I know something about this case so you will need to ask me questions too."

That explained his earlier concern about Mai being late. He picked up his pen and opened his notebook.

"Keiko-san and Michiru-san, what do you have to tell me?"

The short haired girl raised her hand.

"We can't tell you everything because we don't know much as we aren't in the same class as her anymore. But we want you to investigate because it's a case for SPR and not the Police."


	2. Chapter 2

**Nightmare School:**

 **Chapter 2:**

Naru paused. Hopefully if he asked them the right questions, Mai's friends would explain everything in a level headed manner and would not let emotion get in the way. He disliked interviewing very emotional female clients and tended to get Mai to ask them questions instead.

"What makes it suitable for an SPR investigation if it was a physical attack?" he started off his interview with the most important question.

"Because there is something strange about her class that has to be spiritual related. We can't tell the Police we think her class is strange," the one he thought was Michiru answered.

Naru was intrigued. Of course he was interested in investigating the case because it was his assistant that had been attacked, but his abilities lay in the supernatural and not in criminal investigation.

"Could you explain from the beginning?"

Keiko and Michiru looked relived that he was willing to take an interest.

"When the new school year started, we were separated from Mai. She had a new homeroom class and teacher."

Naru recalled her complaining about the separation. He hadn't taken her complaints seriously because he knew someone as warm as her could make new acquaintances easily. He hadn't told her that though.

"Then she had to go with you on that really long case."

That particular case was not one of SPR's finest investigations. Any helpful records that would have been normally available to them had mysteriously been destroyed and none of their exorcisms had initially worked. The investigation ended up taking a month due a lack of background information.

"She was only at school for a week before you whisked her off for another case," Michiru continued.

Naru hadn't been happy about that. Mai needed all the education she could get with her intelligence. Unfortunately the client was a friend of his parents and he had been unable to refuse. He also needed her on the case so he had given her a little tutoring to help her catch up with her schoolwork.

"After she returned she started looking worried. When we asked she said she was imagining things and it wasn't anything to worry about."

"She looked really bad last week and she missed a few lunchtimes with us- she comes over to our class to eat. Then today we saw her being carried into an ambulance. We came here as soon as we could," Keiko finished. "Is that enough information?"

They were certainly correct about Mai looking worried. Even he had noticed it. He wasn't sure they were right about it being connected to her new homeroom class though. It seemed a very big leap in plausibility that he wasn't willing to make yet. Besides, didn't teenage of girls have periods of time where they looked ill and worried? The chain of events culminating in Mai being attacked might not all be linked.

He glanced at Lin and remembered that Mai had wanted to tell him something. There had to be more to the case than it appeared.

"Lin, what did you want to tell me?" he asked.

"Like her friends, I noticed a chance in her demeanour. I eventually asked her and she said she could not tell me based on feelings alone, she would tell me when she got evidence. Then when I asked again yesterday, she finally agreed to tell me today. That was why I worried about her being late."

Keiko put her hand up.

"Shibuya-san, isn't this your fault? Mai often complains about you not entirely believing her and being not willing to investigate based on her feelings."

"That is not completely true," he protested.

He was unwilling when what she said completely conflicted his theories. Usually she turned out to be right. He supposed Keiko had a good point. Mai probably kept quiet because she knew she wouldn't be able to prove whatever she thought was wrong.

"I would have heard her out," he muttered.

He felt that Lin was looking at him strangely so he jerked into action.

"Based on your statements, this case is worthy of a SPR investigation," he announced. "However the principal witness is unconscious in hospital so we need to visit her first."

The omnouji was about to point out that the priestess and monk were perfectly capable of reporting via phone to him about Mai's injuries when he thought better of it. Observing Noll's concern for Mai had always been interesting. He felt Noll was in a fair amount of denial on how much he liked her.

* * *

When they arrived at the hospital they met up with Bou-san in the lobby. His usually artfully ruffled ponytail was completely askew and his eyes look red rimmed.

"She's out of ER," he informed them immediately. "The old lady priestess is watching over her."

"Can you give us an assessment of her injuries?"

The monk led the way to some uncomfortable looking plastic seating.

"She's completely gauzed and stitched up now. Jou-chan had deep cuts all over her arms and legs so she lost a fair amount of blood. The worst one is on her abdomen. That was the one that needed lots of stitches. She is sleeping in a ward right now. She was unconscious when she was found by a student returning to class later," Bou-san sighed. "I'm worried that she's never going to wake up. She looks so pale."

A memory of Gene's dead body being pulled out the lake passed unbidden through Naru's mind and he tried to quell it. Mai was not his twin. She was his occasionally useful assistant and she was currently in the realm of the living.

"Would we be permitted to see her?" he enquired.

She was unconscious and he knew what her injuries were, he just wanted to check that she was living and breathing himself.

"We can try."

They followed the monk to Mai's ward. He walked down the ward until the end where one bed was closed off by curtains. Bou-san poked his head in and spoke to Ayako.

"You can see her," he told them after asking her.

He pulled back the curtains and Naru's got his first glimpse of Mai in the worst state she had ever been in. Her face was the only part of her that was unscathed and it didn't look healthy. Her chest was only taking in shallow breaths. It was the stillest Naru had ever seen her.

"Will she be okay?" Lin asked.

Ayako looked strained. "If this was a normal case, yes. I'm starting to have my doubts this time."

"What do you mean?"

She placed her stethoscope down Mai's hospital gown. She frowned and moved onto rolling back her eyelids and shining a penlight at them.

"She was administered a sedative during the treatment in case she woke up in the middle and freaked out. It should be wearing off now. It's worrying that she isn't showing any signs of waking up. Something is wrong."

Naru began to feel a lot of misgivings about Mai's welfare. She couldn't stay unconscious here with so much left to do. She couldn't die young like Gene.

"If this continues, I am transferring her to another department and to a private room so she can be observed better," Ayako informed them. "It may not be entirely a medical problem though."

Naru picked up on what she was hinting at.

"It could be something psychic preventing her from waking up."

"She is very sensitive," Bou-san agreed. "A hospital is not that best place for someone sensitive. Anything spiritual could be trying to latch onto her."

The scientist knew that the monk was correct in his suggestion, but he didn't think it was plausible considering everything that had happened on this day. If Mai's friends hadn't claimed something supernatural was involved he would suggest an exorcism right now and everything would be normal.

Bou-san appeared to be thinking along the same lines as him.

"Lin-san said that Jou-chan's friends came by to tell you about what happened? Do you know why or how she was attacked? Ayako couldn't tell anything from her wounds."

"They think it's supernatural related," Naru told him. "I am starting to believe them even without solid evidence."

The other three conscious people present restrained themselves from commenting that it was the first time he accepted something without evidence.

"Her inability to wake up could be linked to a supernatural attack," Lin suggested. "It cannot be a coincidence that she is unable to wake up."

"Are you suggesting that she will only wake up when we find the perpetrator?" Ayako asked sceptically.

Naru looked down at Mai's pallid face which stiffened his resolve.

"Matsuzaki-san, stay here. Lin, call everyone and tell them to come to the office. We have a case to investigate. If we can't solve it, we don't be able to save Mai."

Lin had the usual third party employees of SPR at the office within two hours. Bou-san arrived at the same time as Masako and alerted them to the fact that Mai's state hadn't changed. Yasuhara, Masako and John all had varying reactions to the news.

John was upset and Yasuhara was the quietest Naru had ever seen him. Masako's eyes were tight and her mouth was hidden by her sleeve.

Lin made tea and placed the tray on the coffee table in the middle of the seating area, but no one reached out to take any.

"Naru, am I correct in understanding that the current theory is that Mai is possibly in a coma and may only wake up when we discover the culprit?" Masako verified.

Naru checked his watch. "If she isn't showing any signs of waking up by tonight, then definitely."

"Even if that is not the case, we still need to investigate it anyway," John pointed out. "Are we going to visit her school?"

Naru steepled his fingers. Mai's school had been the site of SPR's first case and he knew the principal. It would be easy enough to obtain permission to access the premises to investigate. However if Mai's friends were right about her homeroom teacher and class being involved, an open investigation would not be the way to go. They would have to be more subtle.

He put that problem aside and asked some of his own questions. He knew someone with the answer to his first question. She had complained about it once on one of their forced dates and explained why she was now home-schooled.

"Hara-san, how easy is it to become ostracised by your own class at school?"

She flushed red and Lin winced at his bluntness. If Naru knew she hadn't been popular in school he could have worded it better.

"In my experience, it is very easy if someone instigates the rest of the class into doing it. If someone is jealous of a classmate that they feel gets special attention or too much fame, they can spread discontent."

Mai did get a form of special attention from the school. She was permitted to be absent for long periods of time. As Mai's friends had pointed out she had been absent a lot because of those two cases.

It could be possible they had grouped together and attacked her. Mai's worried behaviour could have been the result of sensing she was in danger or getting warnings from her classmates. It filled in some gaps, but left some unanswered questions.

"We still have the unquantifiable factor, the teacher. If she was being ostracised, that teacher should have stepped in. Did Mai-chan's friends mention him as well?" Yasuhara asked.

Naru nodded. "There are still too many gaps in our knowledge so there is definitely a need to investigate."

Bou-san held his hand up.

"There is a way to investigate this without being suspicious. One of our younger employees can enrol in that class and observe everyone's behaviour."

"This is your best contribution to a case," Yasuhara grinned.

"I've saved everyone where before," Bou-san scoffed and then let the insult go. "We need to decide who to send."

Masako coughed primly. "As much as I want to be as helpful as possible, I am too well known as a psychic. That would raise too many suspicions."

John was the next one to back out. "I stick out a lot in Japan already. They would take a while to warm to me and it could be too late by then."

Naru appreciated his point. He and Gene had had similar experiences and they didn't know how long Mai could last unconscious.

"Yasuhara-san?"

"To be honest, I look too old to pretend to be a sixteen year old," he said frankly. "I'm too obviously a college student."

All eyes turned to the narcissist who was debating to just instruct Yasuhara to not act like an old man for once.

"What?" he said once he noticed everyone was staring at him.

"You are the second youngest person here," Bou-san pointed out. "You are half Japanese and you aren't famous. You can pass for Jou-chan's age easily. Don't get a swelled head when I say this: you are also the smartest person here. You're the only one who can do it."

The compliment was mollifying, however Naru was still unwilling.

"There will be students who will recognise me. I have walked into Mai's class before."

"It sounds like she has a completely new homeroom class," Bou-san said. "You can do it."

Naru weighed up the pros and cons. He wanted Mai to wake up and he wanted the case solved. What he didn't want to do was to pretend to be a high school student. It was below him. The question was how far was he willing to go to save Mai?

He made up his mind.

"I will do it."

* * *

 **A/N: I apologise for the long wait for the next chapter. I was settling into university. The updates will be weekly now.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Nightmare School:**

 **Chapter 3:**

His promise from the previous afternoon was why Naru was currently dressing himself in a gakuran and not in his customary black shirt and trousers. He was making a big sacrifice for Mai- he was going undercover in school for her. When everything was over, she would owe him a big favour.

It had been a rushed plan. He had phoned Mai's principal and explained everything to him. The male school uniform and bag had been delivering in the evening and he was enrolled in Mai's class.

His alias was Narumi Kazuo, the same pseudonym he had adopted for the Urado case. Like in the case, Yasuhara would be playing the part of Kazuya Shibuya.

It had been decided to increase efficiency two investigations would be run at once. The others would be doing an overt and obvious investigation and he would be carrying out a covert and secret one.

Lin knocked on his bedroom door.

"Noll, I have Matsuzaki-san's latest report."

The priestess was set to remain at the hospital to keep watch over Mai. Mai had never woken up even long after the sedative should have worn off and had been declared as being in a coma. She was currently in a private room under supervision.

"Has there been any change?"

"No. She's still unconscious unfortunately. The important thing is that her vital signs are fine at the moment so we are not working in a time limit."

One of the elements they had all worried about was Mai's condition worsening before they solved the case which was why a dual investigation had been decided on.

Lin handed him his schoolbag and sighed.

"Noll, please drop your usual cold act and be nice. Taniyama-san's life is in the balance. You need them to all trust you. You cannot do that if you look down on them, glare at them and make disdainful comments."

Naru opened his mouth to argue and then thought better of it. Lin was right. No one had wanted to be friends with his usual personality. Gene had been the one with friends. Although he would never admit out loud, he considered everyone at SPR to be his first friends and even they had taken time to get used to him.

"You can use your charm instead. Taniyama-san often complains about how you switch it on for clients and turn it off when talking to her," Lin smiled faintly.

Naru also smiled. "I suppose she is right. I will be charming today on her behalf."

The omnouji gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder.

"It's probably the best thing to do today."

Naru left their shared apartment before Lin due to the fact that he had to walk and Lin was picking everyone up in the van. When he was halfway there Naru felt that he should walk to more places as he was feeling rather tired due to his lack of exercise. He spotted Lin arriving with the others as he walked through the school gate.

One of the first things Naru noted about Mai's class was that it wasn't very full. About half of the desks were unoccupied and there was a strange atmosphere of frenzied excitement in the classroom.

Naru wondered if it was because they had attacked Mai the day before. He turned to see the teacher walking into the classroom. The students immediately quieted as he entered.

Mai's homeroom teacher was young and male with short black hair and fashionable clothing. Naru didn't know too much about Japanese teachers outside of SPR cases, but he had never seen one like him. The students looked strangely enthralled at the sight of him.

"Good morning," he greeted and they all replied with the same greeting and bowed their heads. "We have a new transfer student today."

Naru flashed one of his best smiles which meant his cheeks hurt.

"His name is Narumi Kazuo," the teacher announced and wrote it on the whiteboard. "Kazuo-san, I am Ariade-sensei."

Naru bowed his head and his eyes flashed to the students. Again they were displaying an unusual reaction to a transfer student. Instead of whispering between themselves like students always did on cases whenever SPR walked into a classroom, they were silent. Naru felt that at least one person should be discussing his attractiveness.

"Could the class representative take care of him?" Ariade requested.

A girl with glasses at the front swiftly stood up and nodded at Naru.

"Kazuo-san, you can take that seat at the back. Someone can give you a tour of the school later."

Naru sat down in his assigned seat and everything proceeded how a normal homeroom session should until the subject of Mai came up.

"Taniyama-san will be absent until further notice," he informed them and Naru was sure he was smirking. "I will give you an update when I hear something new. Have a good day."

With that he swanned out the room. Naru scowled. He was definitely suspicious of the teacher. Once Ariade had left the atmosphere in the class changed back to how it was before he walked in.

* * *

Lunchtime gave Naru the first chance to observe his new classmates outside of lessons. The subjects he had experienced so far had been rather easy. High school work was simple when you were a person that had obtained a doctorate at 15.

The cliques that the students were sat on appeared to be normal if a little on the small scale due to the lack of students. Naru debated which one to sit with and ultimately decided he would wait for someone to invite him. He only had to wait five minutes.

"Kazuo-san?" one of the female students waved at him. "You look lonely over there. Would you like to join us?"

Naru performed another one of his fake smiles causing all of the girls to blush. Mai was going to owe him after this case for loss of dignity.

"Gladly," he said and dragged his chair towards them.

"How are you so good at Mathematics?" another girl asked with a pout. "You streaked through all of that algebra."

"I've always been good at it," he answered honestly.

"You can help with the homework," another one suggested hopefully.

Naru forced an insult that he had been about to make back down and managed a smile.

"Of course."

"Thank you, Kazuo-san!"

With that ordeal over he started work on obtaining information.

"How come this class is so empty?" he asked innocently.

A strange thing occurred when he asked that. A slightly clouded look appeared in their eyes and they all answered along similar lines.

"I've never particularly noticed."

"Really?"

"I don't know about that."

Mentally Naru added that to his ever increasing list of strange things about Mai's class.

"How long has Ariade-sensei been here?" he enquired next.

"He's new this year," one girl answered and her eyes developed a dreamy look. "He's so attractive and he teaches so well."

"What does he teach?"

"Japanese Literature. We have it this afternoon."

Naru was anticipating that lesson. However he ended up seeing Ariade sooner than expected. He rushed in at the end of lunchtime looking a little perturbed and stopped when he locked eyes with Naru.

"I have an announcement to make. There is a group called SPR going around the school to investigate what happened to Taniyama-san. Do not worry, you are not required to answer any of their questions or assist them in anyway," he said calmly. "In fact it would be better if you did not help them."

The scientist had the feeling that Ariade had been about to say something else until he remembered there was a new student.

He used it as an opportunity to ask about Mai once the highly suspicious teacher had left.

"Who is Taniyama-san and what happened to them?"

They all exchanged secretive looks and Naru could see why Mai's friends through her class were involved. Their attitudes to her weren't normal.

"She's Mai Taniyama. She got taken to hospital yesterday," one said dismissively.

"SPR is the company she works for. She gets special treatment from all the teacher because she's an orphan," another one chipped in.

"She was barely here for the first few months. If she wanted to make friends with us, she should have been here more often," a different girl said huffily.

That suggested he had been right about Mai being ostracised for being permitted to have long absences. There was definitely some tension between her and these girls. It was probably the same for her relationship with the rest of the class as well. Naru was sure that someone was behind them not liking Mai. Like Masako Hara had told him, there usually was an instigator. A group of people wouldn't make a collective decision to hate someone at the same time. Another person had suggested it and Naru had a good idea of who it was.

"What happened to her? Did she faint?" he questioned.

"No," was the short answer.

"She poked her nose into something she shouldn't have," another said cryptically. "Hopefully you won't do the same."

Naru acknowledged that threat with a nod. He had been expecting to get a threat from them if he asked too many questions. It proved that they knew what had happened to Mai. Mai's friends hadn't known what her injuries were because they hadn't been there. An average person would have associated a school student being taken to hospital from exhaustion. They had to have seen her injuries or been the ones to inflict them.

* * *

The employees of SPR minus Lin walked in halfway through his next lesson. He felt surprisingly glad to see them after having to spend several hours in the company of high school students. He never thought he would be glad to see Masako Hara.

"Good afternoon," Yasuhara bowed. "I am Kazuya Shibuya from SPR. Would you mind if I asked your students a few questions about what happened yesterday?"

The female teacher was clearly taken by Yasuhara's charm as she stopped the lesson and allowed him to stand at the front of the room.

"Where was everyone when Taniyama-san was attacked?"

"We were all in here. She goes off by herself at lunchtime because no one here likes her," a boy spoke up.

Naru was a person that knew he talked bluntly. It was useful in his job and had the added benefit of keeping his employees in line. That bluntness was beyond what he would say to Mai. 'Me or Gene' was the bluntest thing he had ever said to her.

He could tell Yasuhara was surprised by that response too. Bou-san looked like he wanted to punch the boy and Masako was glaring at him.

"I see," Yasuhara laughed awkwardly. "Where does she usually go at lunchtime?"

"Mostly to her friends' classroom," the class representative answered.

"She's been going to other places for the last few days," a timid looking girl in glasses added. "She was near the old science labs yesterday."

Naru narrowed his eyes. That was a strange amount of information to know about someone that was disliked. He knew Yasuhara had picked up on the significance as he asked:

"How are you so knowledgeable about Taniyama-san's movements?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Nightmare School:**

 **Chapter 4:**

For Naru that was a sign that the class had grouped together and attacked her. He waited for the response to Yasuhara's question. The college student had done a good job of cornering that girl. All that was needed was a final push.

Unfortunately there was an interruption that prevented Yasuhara from getting an answer. Their homeroom teacher strode in and pushed in front of Yasuhara. Naru noticed he looked panicked.

"Remember you do not need to cooperate," he reminded the class.

The girl who had let slip about Mai's movements nodded meekly and switched her attention to Yasuhara.

"Shibuya-san, I don't have to answer your questions," she said with a red face.

He saw the monk and Masako glare at the teacher's back. Even John looked annoyed with Ariade.

"Shibuya-san, do you have any more questions to ask? Your company is holding up a class unnecessarily," Ariade said scathingly.

Unexpectedly it was Masako that stepped in. He had been expecting the monk to be the one to explode.

"One of your own students was attacked. Don't you want to find out why?"

With that Naru realised Mai and Masako were closer than he had thought.

"Of course I do, but I don't know why you are asking my students. Taniyama-san simply fainted and hurt herself."

Masako stared unflinchingly at him and then backed down. "If you insist."

* * *

Naru was picked up by the SPR black van on the corner of a street near the school. Lin drove the van to the office and they all gathered on the sofas.

"What did you all find out today?" the narcissist enquired.

Lin opened his laptop and brought up several typed documents.

"We learnt a few things, but nothing that points directly to a culprit or suggests a motive."

"Just start at the beginning."

Lin nodded. "Taniyama-san was found in the morning, 30 minutes after the short morning break by the caretaker. She was lying unconscious at the end of a corridor. It's the corridor to the old science labs used by the older students so it's not used a lot. There was no one else there with her. The caretaker called an ambulance immediately and stayed with her until the paramedics came."

Lin showed Naru where the corridor was on using a map of the school on his laptop. Naru could appreciate that it was a part of the school were not many people went. It was perfect for an attack.

"They had to carry her through parts of the school so plenty of students saw her. However only her face was visible so none of the students should know what happened to her."

Strangely enough Naru could think of some students who knew too much about the incident.

"Mai's class seem to. I was told she poked her nose into something she shouldn't have," Naru said.

Everyone nodded. It was evident from SPR's visit to the classroom that there was something suspicious about Mai's class.

"I'm willing to bet that they attacked her Ariade knows," Bou-san volunteered his suggestion.

"I agree that her class is certainly involved," John agreed. "We can't be sure yet though. We need more evidence."

Naru was beginning to understand why Mai hadn't told anyone about it before. If you sat in a classroom with them you were able to tell there was something wrong going on. Trying to get actual evidence of that would be hard. On the surface it simply sounded like high school bullying.

"Hara-san, did you sense anything?" he asked. He had found it strange that she had actually talked to Ariade and realised she probably had a motive for doing so.

Masako looked him in the eye.

"Yes, I did. I am very sure that he is possessed."

That put a new perspective on the case. It was becoming more complex by the minute. Naru was sure that Masako was correct about it due to her line of work as a psychic medium.

"So at the moment we think the students attacked Mai and the teacher is possessed?" Bou-san said. "Where does it all connect?"

Naru verbalised his observations.

"The students completely change whenever Ariade speaks. As you all noticed, they also follow everything he says," he paused. "If the students attacked Mai, they didn't do it of their own accord. He has to be the instigator."

Bou-san sighed. "It feels like we are progressing well at the moment, but the more we discover the harder it gets."

The narcissist felt the same way. They had narrowed down the culprits very fast which had never happened before and it now got harder.

"We are missing the motive," John added.

"We also don't know how to get Mai-chan to wake up," Yasuhara said. "That's the most important thing here."

Naru's mind changed to thinking about Mai in hospital. Ayako had last contacted them an hour ago and her condition was unchanged, but how long could she last?

"What do you want to do next?" Lin enquired which jerked Naru out of his worries about Mai.

"Now that we know her class and Ariade are involved, we need to research them. We can ask the principal for help and Yasuhara-san can do any additional research."

Lin made notes accordingly.

"Do you want any cameras?"

Naru considered it. On a usual case the cameras were for observing spiritual activity. He wasn't sure what was going on at the school, however he wanted to get the reactions of the students to Ariade on film. What he couldn't do was guarantee was that he would be allowed to.

"Do we still have the prototype micro cameras?" he asked.

He had been given them by the British SPR counterpart to test and hadn't used them due to their limited scope. The only real advantage to them had been their ability to record sound and video so there was no need for a separate microphone.

"Yes, but you know they cannot record evidence of spiritual activity," Lin paused. "Unless it's not spiritual activity you are looking for."

"That's right."

"We're going to have to get up really early to put them in place without being noticed," Yasuhara winced. "Are you going to request permission to film students?"

Naru already had a solution to that.

"When we get the students' records, there should be a permission slip in there about being photographed or recorded for promotional purposes. That will cover us."

Lin had to admire his charge's ingenuity sometimes. It did get around obtaining special permission and putting student's on their guard issues.

"Should we also keep an eye on the teacher outside of his lessons with Taniyama-san's class?" Lin suggested.

"If you can manage it discreetly."

Once they had planned the next day's activities everyone started packing up to depart. John was going home, Yasuhara was going to the library to work on something for college and Bou-san was going to the hospital to switch with Ayako. Lin migrated back to his office.

Only Masako stayed behind calmly sipping tea. Naru did not take any particular interest in her presence until everyone else had left and it was only him and her in the seating area.

"Hara-san?" he said doubtfully.

This had occurred before back when she was blackmailing him with the knowledge that he was Oliver Davis. As she no longer had the hold over him and was more mature, that could not be the reason for her staying behind.

"If I was attacked, would you go to all this trouble for me?" she asked.

Naru had no idea what she was trying to imply there.

"Hara-san, you have been attacked on numerous cases along with everyone else and I have solved those cases

"It's not the same," she sighed and quickly changed the subject. "Where do you think Mai's mind is now?"

The thought had crossed his mind before. Considering that she was psychic her mind could be anywhere.

"In a catatonic state."

Masako appeared to be hesitating about what she was going to say.

"…Do you think she could be on the astral plane?"

"It's possible," Naru acknowledged. "We know she goes there when she dreams. It's possible that she is dreaming."

"I thought so."

There was another moment of silence where Naru could tell that Masako was trying to verbalise something but was constantly failing to say it.

"She knows what is going on in this case so it would be useful if we could communicate with her. If she is dreaming it would be possible."

"That would be useful," Naru agreed. "There isn't anyone with particular talent in that field working here though…" he trailed off.

He had an idea of what Masako had been trying to imply the whole time. No wonder she kept skirting around it. It was the elephant in the room a lot of the time.

"Are you referring to Gene?"

Masako nodded and confirmed his suspicion. It was no wonder she had taken so long to get to the point. He hadn't thought of it himself because he didn't think it would be possible.

"Hara-san, Gene is gone. He disappeared after that case. Mai had also never seen him since," he told her ruefully.

Certainly Gene could be useful in this case, but at the same time he was glad that his twin had passed on and wasn't roaming around anymore. Masako looked sad however she still didn't back down.

"We thought he had passed on when you took his body back to England and everything was quiet. Then he turned up for that case. It is still possible."

As much as he didn't want to, Naru could understand her point perfectly. He had been wrong before about Gene moving on from following around so it could be possible he was wrong again.

"I will give it a try," he said hesitantly. "Don't tell anyone else about it. It is likely not to work in any case."

* * *

Later that night he sat in his bedroom wondering if he really wanted to drag his twin back. He wanted to solve the case, but he also wanted Gene to be at peace.

He decided to try it once. If it didn't work he could accept that Gene was no longer around.

He stood in front of his mirror and thought of his only brother and pictured communicating with him.

"Gene, are you there?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Nightmare School:**

 **Chapter 5:**

For Naru the following morning's lessons were spent fighting back yawns and eyeing up all of the students surreptitiously. Another part of his attention went on seeing if he could spot the concealed cameras. The others had gone into the school very early to plant them whilst Naru had arrived at a more standard time.

He was sure that there was one concealed in the light above him and one in the vase of plastic flowers on the windowsill. However he was only guessing and he was actually looking for them. None of the students should be aware that they were being filmed.

Something catastrophic suddenly occurred to him. There would be permanent evidence of him being polite to everyone and helping them thanks to the cameras. He thought it through and decided it wasn't as bad as it seemed. His major loss of dignity in the eyes of the SPR employees had been when they thought he was willingly going on dates with Masako Hara. At least the footage would give Mai something to smile at when she woke up.

Nothing of note happened at all in the morning in the morning lessons after homeroom. Everyone was acting normally like high school students. The change occurred when lunchtime rolled around and Naru brought up the subject of Mai.

The boys he was sitting with did not appreciate it.

"Just don't mention Taniyama," one said. "It makes me feel sick."

Naru raised an eyebrow. It was a different reaction to the girls from yesterday. He decided to have a go at trapping the boy.

"Are you afraid of blood too?"

The male student nodded vigorously. "Yes! That's why I don't like to think of her. All that blood…"

Naru smirked inwardly. He had guessed right and got some evidence that the students had attacked her or were at least at the scene. As Yasuhara had said, due to her injuries being covered up none of the students should be aware of what happened. The boy he was talking to was associating blood with her because he had seen her bleeding out. The students were a lot easier to trick than the teachers. The conversation had also been recorded, it would come in useful later.

One of the other boys glared at the blood phobic one.

"Stop being a wimp. You're part of it too."

That was more evidence for the practically confirmed theory that all of the students in Mai's class had grouped together to attack her. It was fortunate that none of them noticed he had trapped the boy into admitting he had seen Mai in a bloody state.

"Does no one like her or something? I've heard all of the girls bitch about her," Naru said, hoping they would pick up this bait too.

The boys exchanged shifty looks.

"It's the girls that have the major grudge. She was just never here and was always behind with the work when she was here. The teacher made me photocopy my notes for her."

Naru wanted to snort. Being forced to have your notes photocopied for someone was a farfetched reason to hate someone. He was glad he had never been a high school student - he would never have been capable of coping with idiots like this.

He turned to a nerdier looking boy.

"What did you have against her?"

His eyes shifted and he scratched his neck nervously.

"I don't know… She was a little loud sometimes…"

Now Naru knew it was the female students with the worst grudges. It appeared that the male students had just followed along with it and later justified it in their minds by making up petty excuses. Naru thought it was pathetic to just go along with something like that.

He excused himself and took a trip to the toilets. He wasn't sure he could take much more pettiness. He encountered Yasuhara in the toilets who winked at him as he passed indicating he had found something. The other male students in the toilets left when Naru was washing his hands.

As he looked into the mirror he was reminded of his failed attempts to contact Gene. He had tried more than the one time he had promised himself.

"Noll!"

His reflection shifted and became something more than a mirror image.

"Gene?" he asked wonderingly.

"Who else is it going to be?"

The feeling of relief was overwhelming. He had managed to finally contact Gene.

"Do you want to talk to me about Mai?" Gene questioned suddenly.

Naru appreciated being able to get straight to the point, however he wondered how Gene could guess what he was going to talk about. He hadn't been thinking of Mai when Gene appeared.

"How do you know?"

"I tried visiting her after you woke me up. I couldn't manage it even though she appears to be asleep."

Perhaps Gene wasn't the best person to ask if he couldn't get to her.

"She's in a coma in hospital," Naru explained. "We are trying to solve the case and she knows what is going on at this school so I wanted to ask you to go into her dreams again."

Gene looked thoughtful. "She might not be dreaming if she is in a coma. Do you mind explaining the whole story?"

The scientist checked his watch. He had five minutes left before lunchtime finished. He was also five minutes away from the classroom. He decided not to care about punctuality and progress with the case. He also wasn't going to cut short the time he had with his brother.

He laid out the case for his twin and explained his hypothesis that he was lacking concrete evidence for.

"So you think the class and teacher did it? That sounds like extreme school bullying," Gene commented.

"Their reasons for not liking her are very petty like they are clutching at straws to find a reason. I think they were manipulated into it."

"What you don't know is why Mai will not wake up. That is not covered by your hypothesis," his twin noted.

"Hara-san claims that Ariade is possessed," Naru volunteered the information. "There is at least one spirit involved."

Both Davis brothers were silent as they thought about it. Gene was the first to speak.

"Well, I can see why you want to take a shortcut by using me to communicate with Mai. You only have half of the information you need."

"You said you couldn't get in her dreams so I don't know how much use you will be."

Gene glared at him, looking much more like his twin in the process.

"Don't say that. I can try again."

Naru realised he may have been too hasty in giving up on that avenue of investigation. Gene liked to feel useful.

"Do you have any suggestions to help me solve the case?" Naru requested.

Gene furrowed his brow in concentration.

"You could try to induce Mai into a dream state. Coma patients are capable of responding to stimuli. It's worth a try."

"How should I get her into a dreaming state?"

"Hold her hand and say some comforting things. Perhaps if you say things you would never say in real life, her brain will interpret it as a dream."

Unsurprisingly Naru was rather puzzled about what he was being instructed to do.

"Gene, what are you trying to make me do?"

His twin shrugged and looked innocent.

"You requested something of me, I am fulfilling that request by supplying you with appropriate information. It's up to you to do it. I'm not able to appear in the real world to do it myself. It has to be you."

Naru groaned. Gene was talking exactly like he had when they were children. He always made his lies and tricks sound plausible. Gene could sense the direction of his thoughts.

"I am telling you the truth. If you go to the hospital and talk to Mai exactly how you do in real life, she is never going to lapse into a dream. If you're embarrassed at the thought of saying something nice to her, just remember I can't see you do it. Even if I did, I couldn't tell anyone else."

"That's very comforting," Naru muttered sarcastically.

This case was testing him again. He had never had to change his personality and lose his dignity so much on previous cases. He had already enrolled in high school and been nice to bitchy girls for Mai. Saying something nice to her couldn't be that difficult.

* * *

Severing his connection Gene had been hard. He hoped they would be able to talk again, or rather they needed to talk again. He walked in late to his afternoon classes and spent most of his time thinking of something nice to say to Mai instead of listening to the teachers. Naturally he still did all of his work and got right answers.

He went straight to the hospital after school ended and texted Lin to say he would be back at the office later and wanted a summary of everyone's findings.

Ayako sitting next to Mai's bed and holding her when he walked into her private room. The priestess was very surprised to see him.

"Naru! Has something happened?"

He shook his head and tried to think of a way to induce her to leave the room so he could be alone with Mai. He stared down at Mai to assess her condition. She still looked the same as she had three days ago.

"I take it that there haven't been any changes?" asked.

"Fortunately and unfortunately," she confirmed.

He noted the dark circles underneath her eyes and the lack of her usual heavy makeup.

"You can have a break if you want. I don't mind staying here for a while."

Ayako smiled weakly. "That would be good. I'm going to the cafeteria to get something then. I will be back within the hour."

She picked up her handbag and left the room leaving Naru alone with Mai. He consulted the heart monitor and observed that everything was normal. The only anomaly was that she wasn't awake.

He sat in the chair Ayako had vacated and looked at Mai. She looked very pale and lifeless which stiffened his resolve.

"Mai," he began. "I want to know about your classmates' bullying that what they did to you. I think I know, but you know more of what is going on than me. I need you to transfer your conscious onto the astral plane so Gene can meet with you."

He sighed. "Gene said that to get you to dream, I have to say something nice that I wouldn't say in reality."

He took her hand and summoned up the willpower to say something nice.

"Thank you for always being happy and cheerful. It may not seem like I appreciate it, but I do."

That part was easy enough to say because it was true. It was uplifting to have someone cheerful at the office to contrast him and Lin.

He checked her for any signs of a change in state and then the heart monitor. There was no change. He would have to try again. He had to say something else he would never usually admit to.

"Mai, I like seeing your face when you bring me tea more than the tea itself."

His sharp eyes caught a change in her expression. Her forehead furrowed slightly and then relaxed. There was a chance she had taken that in. Her heart rate went up a few digits and he hoped that she had gone into a dream.


	6. Chapter 6

**Nightmare School:**

 **Chapter 6:**

Mai blinked and looked around. It was completely dark where she was. Perhaps she was dead after all and this was the afterlife. She didn't feel cold or hot at all and she was wearing her school uniform. The last time she had seen it, her uniform had been covered in her own blood.

"Is this a dream or am I dead?" She asked out loud.

As a test she pinched her arm. There really was no pain. The problem was that it backed up either theory. She closed her eyes and tried to wake herself up and found that that she couldn't make it happen.

She sighed and decided to explore where she was to see if there were any clues. Mai soon encountered Will-o'-the-Wisps that were floating around her. The more she walked the more there were and then she became unable to progress any further because they were pushing her back.

The Will-o'-the-Wisps suggested that it was a dream as she had seen them quite a few times before. They had never behaved like this though. Perhaps it was because they were linked to her being unable to escape this place.

She missed Gene. He had been the one to guide her through her dreams and the astral plane. Unfortunately his spirit had passed on and he wasn't around to help her. She would have to work it out for herself if she wanted to return to the real world.

The thought of the real world made her falter. SPR was the good part of her life. School was the bad part. At first the good parts of her life had balanced out the bad until the bullying at school had escalated into a scale that she could no longer shrug off.

In the beginning she had only felt a little isolated from the rest of her class. Then it slowly got worse. She could sense she was being glared at, she could hear whispered conversations involving her name behind her back. Sometimes her indoor shoes had thumbtacks in and other times her desk had graffiti on. Those were the incidents that she had been able to get through by staying cheerful in class and going over to Keiko-chan and Michiru-chan's classroom for lunch. In the meantime she had started to do some investigation herself into things she had noticed about them.

A few days ago she had found some of the best evidence and was intending to take it to Lin as she had promised to tell him what was bothering her. Evidently she had been spotted taking the evidence or that person had noticed it was gone as she was cornered by her class in a quiet corridor. She had done her best to run away when she saw the looks in their eyes. She ran straight into a trap and now she was here, unable to wake up.

What could she do here?

The Will-o'-the-Wisps were annoyingly following her around. They were a pretty sight but it was strange to think that they were spirits of people that had died.

Mai stopped in her tracks. There was something she could try. Gene hadn't suggested that she learn it for nothing.

She held up her fingers and began to chant.

"Rin. Pyo. To. Sha. Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen!"

A gust of air blew past her and the Will-o'-the-Wisps retreated away from her. She grinned victoriously and paused when she heard something.

"…Mai….Mai!"

It was a familiar voice that she hadn't heard for a while. She looked around for the source of it and couldn't see anything.

"Gene?"

If she was in a place where the deceased Davis twin could contact her then she probably was dead.

"That's right. I can't be with you physically, I can only talk to you," Gene confirmed.

"Am I dead?" She asked fearfully.

"No."

Mai sank to the floor in relief. She wasn't dead. She could go back to the real world where her SPR family and friends were.

"Mai, Noll sent me here," Gene continued on. "He is trying to save you."

That sent a burst of hope through her. Naru did care enough for her to save her. She felt more optimistic now.

"Am I asleep in hospital then?" She enquired. If she was dreaming right now she should be asleep in the real world. The only thing was that she felt like she had been unconscious for much longer than she had been dreaming for.

"It's worse: you're in a coma and you should be awake. You weren't on the astral plane until Naru induced your mind to come here."

Mai's burst of hope started to plummet. She had been enough films and TV to know that not everyone woke up from a coma.

"Why won't I wake up?"

"Physically you should be awake. It's your mind that isn't awake. I think it's related to the fact that I can't join you properly."

Mai glanced at the Will-o'-the-Wisps that were regathering around her. Suddenly they took on a darker meaning.

"Are the Will-o'-the-Wisps trapping me here?"

They began to swarm around her and Gene's voice became muffled.

"Mai… Naru needs to know… To solve the case..."

She grasped at those words like a lifeline as her vision became clouded. She couldn't tell him properly now, she would have to tell him where she had hidden the evidence.

"They're under the kotatsu!"

The Will-o'-the-Wisps drew back and she knew that Gene wasn't there anymore. If she was lucky he would have heard her and he could pass the message onto Naru. Then they would find the evidence and could work out what was going on and know who the culprit was. They could set her free then.

She peered at the Will-o'-the-Wisps again.

"Are you here because of Ariade-sensei?"

She felt a ripple reverberate through the astral plane and she knew the answer.

* * *

The second hand on Naru's watch seemed to take an age to do a revolution of the watch face. He kept a tight hold on Mai's hand fearful that if he let go she would stop dreaming. When ten minutes past he began to wonder if Gene had managed to get in contact with her. He also started to wonder how happy Mai would be to see him.

The priestess knocked on the door after thirty minutes and Naru elected to still hold Mai's hand despite knowing it would become a source of gossip and amusement for his employees.

Ayako didn't comment on their connected hands and instead focused on the heart monitor.

"It's faster now. Are you the cause?"

"I need her to dream so Gene can join her on the astral plane."

Naru felt that an explanation for the hand holding was necessary. Ayako took it in her stride.

"I see. It's a good idea and I hope it works."

He kept hold of Mai's hand for another half an hour before letting go. Ayako took his place and he headed off to the toilets so he could try to contact Gene to assess his progress. The toilets were at the end of a long corridor that smelled very strongly medicinal and only served as a reminder that he was in a place where not everyone recovered.

He ascertained that no one else was in the toilets and stared into the bathroom mirror. This time Gene appeared after one attempt. The worried look on his face made Naru think the worst.

"Did you manage to contact Mai?"

"Yes and no. I couldn't see her or be in the same place, but we did briefly converse before I got pushed out of her dream."

Naru was slightly relieved. Mai was not completely lost in a coma if Gene had managed to talk to her. It also meant that he had been successful in inducing her to dream.

"Did she explain about the case?"

"We didn't have a proper chance. There are lots of Will-o'-the-Wisps where she is and I think that's what's keeping her from waking up. I sensed that they turned violent and forced me out."

Naru took a mental note of his description. Will-o'-the-Wisps were a form of weaker spirits that were fairly harmless on their own unless they were acting as lures. There was something behind them

"Just before I had to go, I am sure she shouted something about looking under her kotatsu," Gene added.

That fitted in with the chain of events. Mai had known her classmates were strange and that he wouldn't believe her without proper evidence. So she had looked for evidence and had found enough to want to tell Lin. She must have hidden it in her apartment and then been attacked at school. Therefore the evidence should still be there.

"I will get someone to check for it. Did you get anything else?"

Gene's calm expression faltered. "She's scared. She asked me if she was dead. There's something malevolent there with her that worries me. You need to solve this case quickly."

Naru felt a pang of sympathy for her which was an unusual occurrence for him. The most alarming thing he had ever experienced was either experiencing Gene's death or nearly dying after using his PK. Both experiences had had a significant effect on him because they were so traumatising. Mai had been in danger for quite a while from her classmates and been unable to tell anyone and now she was trapped in a coma and she was actually aware of it. That was worse than anything he had experienced.

"I'm trying my best, Gene."

"I know you are."

* * *

 **A/N: I am sorry for missing a chapter last week, I had two presentations this week to prepare for which were more important.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Nightmare School:**

 **Chapter 7:**

Naru met up with the other employees of SPR after getting a taxi from the hospital to the office. Everyone was sitting in the sofas eagerly waiting for him and he suspected that Ayako had let slip about what he had told her at the hospital.

He had borrowed Mai's flat key that had been in the pocket of her school uniform and handed it to Lin so he could enter her flat. He hadn't told her what he wanted the key for so he knew he was going to be questioned by everyone else.

He elected to prevent any questions by asking some of his own.

"Yasuhara-san, what did you find out today?"

From the way Yasuhara grinned at him he knew that the college student had found something.

"I viewed Ariade-sensei's employment records when I was at the school. It's only his second teaching job."

That made sense to Naru. He had noticed how young Ariade was.

"His education records indicate that he wanted to be a teacher all along. It wasn't a second choice or a last ditch attempt at getting employment."

That was an interesting piece of information although it didn't indicate too much in itself. Lots of people knew what they wanted to do when they were younger and stuck to it.

"I got his birthdate from the file and did some other research. As usual, don't question my methods."

Due to the increase of complex cases at SPR he had started to need more personal information about clients and related people that wasn't typically available or took too long to obtain through normal methods. Yasuhara had proved to be quite useful in that aspect as he seemed to know the places to find such information.

"I won't. Did you get something relevant from your other research?"

Yasuhara wriggled his eyebrows.

"It was pretty standard stuff to be honest- I can give it all to you later just in case. I was talking to one of his old school friends and I found out that he used to be a psychic medium."

That opened up a new possibility. They already suspected that he was being possessed by another spirit. Now that they knew he was capable of being a medium it as almost certain.

"He did a few favours for people by letting them talk to their deceased loved ones and was starting to make money from it. Then he had trouble with one that wouldn't leave him and he had to undergo an exorcism so he gave up that job."

Being possessed by a spirit that wouldn't leave was a risk of the job. His mother had protested about Gene doing it at first. If Ariade had been quite young and didn't know much it would have certainly traumatised him.

"How old was he at the time?" He asked.

"14. According to his friend he was very scarred from the experience and wished he had known more about possession before he had started it."

Masako gave her contribution to the conversation.

"The mental will of the spirits is a factor. Most will leave you after saying what they wanted to say. Others are malicious and will want to use your body for malicious things. Whoever is possessing Ariade belongs in the second category. It would also be a long term possession."

A long term possession could mean that the spirit had made Ariade apply for a job at Mai's school. That could mean that his aim was to victimise students by turning everyone else against them.

The most likely person he could think of who would want to do that would be someone who had experienced it themselves.

"It's likely that someone who died young and was bullied at school found him and decided to possess him to get revenge," Bou-san said.

John nodded. "It certainly sounds like someone quite young. An older person would be more likely to put their school days behind them. For a young person their school days is their life."

"It could also be someone that committed suicide as a result of bullying. That would explain the murderous intent he has towards Mai," Masako suggested.

Naru felt that Masako was right. The clues pointed towards the spirit possessing Ariade being a high school student that had been victimised and had ultimately taken their own life. It was sad, but they shouldn't be taking it out on the living that had nothing to do with it.

"Should I try to find out who the spirit possessing Ariade is then?" Yasuhara asked.

"It would be very useful," Naru agreed. "We have some potential search criteria. The spirit must be someone that committed suicide whilst in high school, was bullied and was probably quite clever."

He felt everyone give him curious looks so he explained.

"I have had a few lessons with him and he is very knowledgeable about Japanese literature. A high school student that knows that much has to be intelligent."

"That might help narrow it down," Yasuhara acknowledged. "I can't promise I will be able to find the exact person."

Naru checked his watch. Lin should have arrived at Mai's flat by now and with time to spare. He checked his phone in case he had missed something and found he had no new notifications.

"At this point, anything will be appreciated," he said. "Are there any other suggestions?"

Bou-san cleared his throat.

"Hara-san and I spent today observing Ariade."

Strangely enough Bou-san was not the person Naru would have pictured for the job. His ponytail and dyed hair did cause him to stick out a lot. He was interested in what Ariade did outside of lessons though.

"Did you observe any suspicious activity?"

Bou-san pulled a face. "He didn't have party poppers out if that's what you were looking for. He did look annoyingly smug though."

Naru knew exactly what the monk was talking about. The teacher did have a smug expression when he wasn't talking about a Japanese literature related subject.

"He spent most of his time outside lessons in the teachers' office today. He has a desk in the corner away from everyone else so we couldn't really see that he was doing. He had a few students come to see him. They were mostly older students," John paused. "I am sure that one of the female students that he had a meeting with is in your home room class."

That did add something to the mystery. Meeting with older students working on entrance exams weren't out of the ordinary because in the entrance exam hell climate students needed to get help where they could. Having a meeting with a younger student from his homeroom class was a little more out the ordinary.

It was Masako that delivered the bombshell.

"The female student was the one that gave us detailed information about Mai's movements. I recognised her. It looked like she was getting told off. The males with me failed to recognise her with glasses and a different hairstyle."

There were times when Naru did actually appreciate Masako's presence on cases and this was one of them.

The monk was the one to state the obvious.

"Do you think she was getting disciplined for giving it away?"

"It's almost certain," the narcissist agreed.

"I think we need to keep an eye on her then," John suggested. "She could be in danger."

"We can observe her in lessons using the cameras and someone can follow her around at break times," he ordered. "As a precaution, Hara-san needs to not leave her alone in the girls' toilets."

Sometimes that was a factor that was overlooked in stories when a character was supposed to be under protection. Naru found it strange that people would overlook such an obvious thing.

"If I must," Masako said. "By the way, where is Lin-San?"

"Mai mentioned something being under her kotatsu," Naru replied and waited for the onslaught.

"How did you talk to Jou-chan?" The monk demanded.

Masako looked at him sharply. "He didn't. Gene-san did. He heard it from him. So you took my suggestion."

"I did," Naru acknowledged. "They didn't have a chance to talk too long though. He was pushed out of her dream."

The monk looked thoughtful and Masako was frowning.

"In all honesty, dreams are not my area," Bou-San admitted. "Was there anything strange that he could see?"

"Lots of Will-o'-the-Wisps. I think there's more victims of Ariade than we know about."

Bou-san shuddered, clearly not keen on the idea of Mai never waking up and eventually becoming a spirit.

"Is she still the same?" John asked worriedly.

Naru checked the most recent update from Ayako. From her heart rate it appeared that she had stopped dreaming. He wasn't sure if that was a relief or not. At least she wasn't trapped in a dream with only Will-o'-the-Wisps for company.

"She is still the same. The person I am wondering about now is Lin."

As if on cue the omnouji burst into the office looking the most disarrayed than Naru had ever seen him. His fringe was completely askew instead of covering one eye and his hair was wet from the rain.

"Lin, did you find anything?"

The omnouji took off his bag and checked the content.

"I rushed back here as soon as I could. There was something very interesting under Taniyama-san's kotatsu."

Lin handed a stack of files to Naru. The first thing he recognised was the school logo on them. It was the logo of the school he was currently attending. He opened up the one on top and realised it was a student record.

"Why were these at Mai's flat?"

Everyone gathered around him to have a look.

"Noll, can you confirm if you have seen any of the students before? They are supposed to be in your homeroom class."

Naru's eyes widened. Could it be?

He opened up all of the files and laid them out on the table with all of the school photos showing. None of the students pictured there were recognisable, yet they were supposed to be in the same class as him.

His mind flashed back to the emptiness of the class.

Were these evidence that other students had existed and disappeared?


	8. Chapter 8

**Nightmare School:**

 **Chapter 8:**

"Why does Jou-chan have these?"the monk asked.

Naru thought the answer was obvious. Before he could reply scathingly Lin answered for him.

"Because Taniyama-san knew she needed proof that something was wrong and this was what she managed to get hold of. It certainly proves that something is strange about her class."

"I'm more questioning how she managed to get them," Masako gave her opinion. "If the existence of these students is supposed to be a mystery then their records should have been well hidden."

"I think it's likely that she stole them from Ariade somehow to show to us, but he noticed the loss and got everyone to attack her," John suggested.

Naru thought he was right and also was aware that they were missing the biggest question.

"Why are there students that no longer exist anymore? Did they move school or did they die?"

Yasuhara picked up one of the files.

"I can check all of the names out in addition to everything else I have to research if you like. It shouldn't be too hard because all of the information we need is here. There's even parental contact information there."

Naru checked the time. It was now nearly eleven at night and everyone looked tired. Mai was fine at the moment so they might as well finish up for the day.

"Tomorrow, you can start all of the research, Hara-san has her duties. Brown-san and Bou-san can find out about these students. Everyone's current task is to get some sleep to be ready for tomorrow."

* * *

The weather the next day was not a good omen. The sky was almost black with clouds and it was raining heavily. Naru was even more annoyed than he usually was about having to attend school because he had to walk and he was soaked by the time he walked through the school gate. Whilst it was highly annoying being dripping wet, he found it was a good conversation starter once he reached the classroom.

"Kazuo-san, you're all wet!" one of the girls whined.

"How come you didn't take an umbrella?" another one asked.

"It started when I was halfway here," Naru explained.

In all fairness he should have checked the forecast, but he had much more to worry about than getting rained on.

"You can borrow my towel," one girl offered.

Naru had a look round for the girl that the others had seen with Ariade the day before and couldn't see her. No sooner had he thoughts that did she walk in dripping water from her hair onto the floor.

"Mimi-chan, you're as wet as Kazuo-san!"

She locked eyes with him and Naru tried to smile kindly. He was planning to start questioning her later on for information so it would be best if she thought he was a kind person at first.

One of the girls offered him her slightly damp towel to use and he handed it to Mimi which caused her to blush profusely. Naru was slightly concerned by the blush. He didn't need the extra worry of one of Mai's classmates getting a crush on him.

When Ariade walked in they all sat down in their seats and Naru finally realised he had some good luck. Mimi was the girl that sat on the right of his desk. It made things a lot easier for him.

He spent the morning lessons taking full advantage of it. By lunchtime the girl was very pink faced and giggly and Naru was completely exhausted. Being charming and kind was very tiring for him. He vowed to never try it again if he didn't get any results before the end of the day.

* * *

Lin who was observing this over the cameras winced as Naru charmed the girl. If Mai was here she would probably have punched his laptop screen. John looked over at him curiously.

"Is everything okay, Lin-san?"

"I don't think Noll has realised what he's done yet. It's highly likely that Mimi Hirai has a crush on him now."

John walked over to have a look over his shoulder and saw the evidence for himself. The girl was looking beet red in the face and couldn't seem to stop giggling.

"Hopefully he will get something useful from her. He's probably just lulling her into confessing what she knows," John said optimistically.

"I am also worried about those two girls behind her glaring at her."

Lin zoomed in on the appropriate camera feed so John could see the girls in the row behind her glaring at her back. The priest sighed.

"The sooner we solve this case the faster all the problems with that class get cleared up."

The omnouji was in perfect agreement. All of them were in a permanent state of worry at the moment and the faster they could get Mai to wake up the better.

"We have made a breakthrough this morning though. The problem is that I can't let Noll know until after school."

"If we leave him to it, he might make a breakthrough too."

Lin watched another development unfold. Naru was walking Mimi out the classroom.

"He's on the move. Tell Hara-san to keep an eye from a distance."

Masako was being used as someone to dispatch if they needed someone in the school corridor that didn't stick out at first glance. She had been given the female school uniform so she blended in a little more. This investigation was nothing like a standard investigation and they all felt out of their depth.

Naru would have liked to take Mimi onto the roof so he wouldn't be overheard asking lots of questions about Mai. Due to the heavy rain he had to settle for the library. It did have the added advantage of giving him a legitimate pretext to take her outside the classroom.

"What book are you looking for Kazuo-san?" She asked.

Naru looked at the bookshelf they were standing next to and shook his head. He didn't have to put too much effort into pretending that they were in the library to look for a book, the girl was blushing too hard to notice anything.

"If it was here, it would be in this section. It was too much to expect a school library to have."

He sat down on an empty table and she doubtfully followed him.

"We can just talk until the bell goes," he explained with a smile.

She blushed in return and Naru started his questioning. Hopefully his hard work at being friendly would be rewarded with relevant information.

"I think I saw you with Ariade-sensei when I walked past the teachers' office yesterday," he commented.

She bit her lip nervously and Naru knew that Masako had been right about her being disciplined.

"I wasn't there for anything good. I was being told off for speaking to those SPR people the other day. I don't have detention or anything though."

Naru could tell that detention was not Araide's usual method of implementing discipline. He preferred physical attacks.

"I think I remember. SPR is that place Taniyama worked at. Was she being bullied or something? I noticed that no one seems to like her."

Mimi looked around nervously and then leaned in towards him. Naru hoped that it meant she was going to confide in him.

"I really need to tell someone to let all the worry out. Keeping quiet is making me anxious. Promise you will keep it secret."

"I promise," Naru lied. He wasn't going to honour a promise with someone that had nearly killed Mai.

She looked around again and then whispered in his ear.

"He was the one that made everyone hate her. He was also the one that made us chase her down a few days ago."

Now he had definite confirmation that they had all been right about suspecting Mai's classmates of attacking her at the order of Ariade.

"Mimi-chan, I would like to believe you, but how can a teacher order a whole class to attack someone?" he asked in a skeptical tone.

"He made us," she protested vehemently. "When he's around we all obey him."

Unfortunately she wasn't saying anything he didn't already suspect. He needed more information.

"How?" he asked again.

She looked frustrated at his refusal to believe her.

"Have you had a meeting with him yet?"

Naru shook his head.

"At the start of the year we all had individual meetings with him. Taniyama didn't because she was absent for some SPR thing. He asked me questions and I had to sign something."

That was probably the cause of Mai being a target. She had been absent from school at the time he had started controlling everyone. It was starting to make sense now. Ariade hadn't been able to control her like everyone else. He needed to find out what the students had signed to know what they had agreed to.

"I believe you now," he said sincerely. "I shall watch out for that. Do you remember what questions he asked you?"

She looked blank. "It was quite a while ago. I do remember there being a question about bullying. That's all I can remember."

He moved onto his next question. "What did you have to sign?"

Mimi hesitated. "Thinking about it now, it was like a contract. I didn't really read it before signing it so I don't know what it said. He just said it was a formality and I didn't need to bother to read it."

Naru found that conversation very useful. They had a lot more information now. He was feeling that the case was solvable now and that he would be able to get Mai to wake up from her coma. That was before he returned to another classroom and realised that he had contributed to another complication.

All of the girls were glaring at Mimi. To add to that, Ariade was leaving the classroom as he walked in.

He was witnessing the turning of the class onto a new victim and it was his fault.

* * *

 **A/N: I am sorry to say that this story will be on hiatus for a few weeks. I have too many deadlines to worry about and I barely have any free time. I promise that I will update in December when term ends.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Nightmare School:**

 **Chapter 9:**

Naru felt a mixture of triumph and dejection when he walked into the SPR office. He finally had a testimony proving that Mai's class had been turned against her by the teacher and he had an idea of how he was controlling them. However in the process someone else had become a target of the teacher.

He made himself a cup of tea and waited for everyone else to arrive whilst doing some homework which didn't take him very long.

Lin entered the office first and shot him a meaningful look. The omnouji was the person in charge of watching the camera feed so he had definitely witnessed the new victim and heard whatever Ariade had said to the class.

Yasuhara started his report first.

"I carried out research into the students whose records Mai-chan had. What I found was troubling- they don't seem to exist."

Naru frowned. That wasn't possible. If they had school records detailing previous schools, their grades, parents and home addresses, they had to exist.

"Can you elaborate?"

The college student readjusted his glasses.

"To be more precise, they have birth certificates so we know they were alive at some point. Their previous schools remembered them and that's it. Bou-san and I went around asking the teachers at Mai's school and no one recognised them and there's no records of the students transferring out of the school."

That did sound very mysterious. Naru knew why the classroom felt so empty. These students had gone missing.

"Do you think they are dead?" Lin asked Yasuhara.

"After failing to find any trace of them at the school, I contacted a few of their parents. They all put the phone down on me when I asked if they had a child that had studied at the school in question so I think they might not be alive anymore."

Naru felt that Yasuhara was right because he remembered what Gene had said about Mai's dream. There were lots of Will-o'-the-Wisps around. The dead students could be the Will-o'-the-Wisps.

"They were in Ariade's homeroom class so it's obvious that he has something to do with it," Bou-san said. "Perhaps he wants Mai to go the same way. The only reason they remember her could be because she isn't actually dead."

Naru took notes of all of this. There was a lot to keep track of.

"Did you get a chance to find out who the spirit possessing Ariade could be?" He questioned.

Yasuhara pulled out his notebook. "I didn't get time to do any in depth research, but I managed to talk to Ariade's friend again. Two years ago, Ariade was at a job interview at a school, but it was cancelled because one of the students jumped off the roof."

That sounded like it could be a match. The spirit of the student could have latched onto to the nearest possible living person that it could before the body died. They were getting closer to solving the mystery now.

"Do you know anything about the student?"

Yasuhara shook his head. "No. The friend didn't know it. I do have the name of the school so I can contact them tomorrow to find out."

"That would be very useful," Naru agreed. "I found out some important facts today."

His sharp eyes did not fail to notice the looks they all exchanged.

"We saw some of your flirting," Bou-san said. "I didn't know you had it in you to flirt."

Naru felt offended by the implication that he had been flirting. He had been trying to lay the groundwork for obtaining information.

"It's all right, we won't tell Mai that you flirted with someone that tried to kill her," Yasuhara said.

Naru was grateful for that. He could picture her reaction in his head and he also hadn't enjoyed flirting with one of her attempted murderers anyway.

"I actually obtained some very useful information from her. Ariade had the class sign contracts. The only person not to sign one was Mai because she was on a case with us at the time. That has to be the incident that singles her out from the rest of the class."

Lin appeared to be in agreement with him. "She must be the one that he doesn't have control over because she never signed the contract."

"Do you find out what kind of contract it was?" Bou-san asked. "There are some spiritually binding contracts I've heard about before but never seen."

"Hirai-san unfortunately signed it without reading it. Ariade presented it as a mere formality she needed to sign."

Ariade was clearly possessed by someone very manipulative and intelligent. Whatever his true aim was, he had planned it well.

"That canny bastard," the monk muttered.

Naru felt exactly the same way. He glanced at Lin's laptop which was open on the table.

"Do you have the video footage from his visit to the classroom at lunchtime?" He requested.

Lin brought up the relevant file and wound it back to the specific part.

"After you left together with Hirai-san, there was a lot of negative muttering about her that went on for a while. Then Ariade arrived."

Naru watched as Ariade walked into the classroom and stood at the front. The students quieted immediately and stared at him blankly.

"Mimi Hirai is currently in trouble with me for letting things slip on that SPR visit. Instead of reflecting on it, she is gallivanting off with the transfer student for a romantic liaison. Perhaps you could all help me discipline her?"

There was a moment of tense silence in the video and in the office after that line.

"The student that is the first to do it will be rewarded. That is all."

He turned on his heel and Naru saw himself arrive on the scene as Ariade was leaving. Lin closed the video and sighed.

"This case just become more complex."

"We gained more information only to create a new victim," Masako summarised neatly.

"We can't leave that girl unprotected now. She can't die on our watch," Bou-san said.

Naru deeply considered the situation. They needed to find out who was possessing Araide, find a way to exorcise him and wake up Mai. There was also the question of the missing students. The investigation could take to the end of the week and by then it could be too late for both Hirai and Mai.

He made his decision.

"I suggest that we pick up Hirai-san tomorrow before school and bring her to this office. Hara-san and Brown-san can explain the situation to her. She may be able to provide more information that way. Whatever happens, do not let her out your sight."

Masako nodded. "I am willing to try to persuade her."

"It sounds like the only thing we can try," John said. "Do we mention that you are really Kazuya Shibuya?"

That was a sensitive point. Naru knew that she had a crush on him, it was hard not to notice. If she found out now that he was doing it all for Mai, there was a chance she would lose all trust and would return to Araide.

"No. Do not mention me until we are sure she isn't going to run away."

* * *

The student records that the principal had given them came in useful. They found Mimi's address and the SPR van pulled up outside as she was leaving the house. Lin was driving whilst John and Masako had been chosen to persuade her.

Bou-san had driven Yasuhara to the library and Noll had walked to school by himself. Matsusaki-san was still at the hospital to keep watching over Mai who was still in a stable state.

"I'll talk to her first," John said and got out of the van.

Lin approved of his choice. Masako Hara could be a little difficult at times. He still had not forgiven her for blackmailing Noll to go on dates. Her personality had improved a lot over time though.

Mimi followed John into the van easily enough. Keeping her there was going to be the harder part.

* * *

Naru felt his phone vibrate in his second lesson. He held up his open textbook to hide his phone. It was a text from Lin stating that Mimi was at SPR and he was on his way to the school himself.

He felt a moment of relief. They were one hurdle down. Hopefully Masako and John would be able to gain something from Mimi.

Her absence had been commented on in homeroom. All the girls had back stabbed her and the boys had given a few complaints. It mirrored mostly what he had been told about Mai. It was sad to see that it was so easy to get the class to hate another pupil. It was even more scary than it was sad.

He wondered what Ariade was planning. The attack on Mai had not gone entirely to plan, however she was trapped in her own mind so technically there was no evidence of anything because she was unable to testify against him. Mimi had let something to slip and he had turned everyone against her, but she was absent today so nothing really could be done. Either he was going to wait for Mimi to come back to school, he was going to find her himself or he was going to try something else.

Lunchtime took a long time to arrive for Naru. He had been waiting for updates from John and he hadn't received anything and all the lessons had been too easy. He chose to sit with the girls he had been sitting with on his first day.

"Do you know if Hirai-san is ill?" He asked innocently.

"She can't hide at home forever," one girl answered cryptically.

Another girl, this one had dyed brown hair, leaned towards him eagerly.

"Are you friends with her? You two looked close yesterday."

Naru had been prepared for this question from the start. In fact he had been expecting it sooner.

"I wanted to find a book in the library and she seemed to be the type of person that spends a lot of time in the library. I thought it would be rude just to ask her outright so I talked to her a little first. She was a bit boring to talk to though."

The brown haired girl nodded in satisfaction. "I thought it would be something like that."

"Mimi-chan isn't really a library person," someone else interrupted. "It's someone else in this class."

Her eyes became unfocused and distant. When she spoke again her eyes were back to normal.

"Actually I got it wrong. It as someone in my previous homeroom class that spent all her free time in the library."

Naru was curious about that moment. There was a chance that she had briefly remembered a former member of the homeroom class. There had been a student record for a female with exceedingly good grades which could link to spending a lot of time in the library.

His train of thought was interrupted by Ariade's arrival. Instead of walking to the front of the classroom, the teacher walked headed straight towards him.

"Kazuo-san, I need to have a quick talk with you," he said and bent down next to his desk. "Is that all right with you?"

"It is," Naru answered shortly.

"I would like to see you after school for a private talk. Are you able to come?"

* * *

 **A/N: My December deadlines have passed so I can update again now.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Nightmare School:**

 **Chapter 10:**

Naru recognised the implication of Ariade's invitation perfectly. He was the only person in the class that was not under his thumb yet and now he wanted Naru under his control. The opportunity to gain information was too much to pass up.

"I am free after school," he confirmed. "Will it take a long time? I have a lot of homework to do."

He had a feeling that Lin was not going to be happy with him. The omnouji didn't take any risks when it came to his safety.

Ariade smiled. "It won't take long. It's just to ask you a few questions and check that you are happy here."

"That's good. I will see you after school then in the teachers office."

Naru's phone vibrated the moment Ariade left and as he suspected, it was a text from Lin warning him to be careful. It appeared that Lin was allowing him to go but wanted him to take precautions.

He turned his attention back to the group of girls.

"Is is normal for him to have meetings with new students?" he asked.

"We all had meetings with him in the first couple of weeks at the start of the school year," was the brown haired girl's reply.

"He just asks about what university you are aiming for, what you want to be, who you are friends with and how you feel about bullying," someone else added.

To anyone else that information sounded like questions any normal teacher would ask; to Naru it sounded like Ariade had been working out the class dynamics so he could start manipulating them.

When Naru visited the toilets just before the bell went he was pulled into a cubicle by Lin. The omnouji held out something in his hand.

"I have a camera for you to wear because we can't put a camera in the teachers office."

"That is a good idea," Naru agreed. "I will be careful about what I say."

The expression on Lin's face was disbelieving. "Noll, do not answer back smartly. Do not hint that you know too much. Do not indirectly insult him. There is too much in the balance at the moment."

Naru appreciated the warning. "I promise."

* * *

With a nervous heart Naru entered the teachers office after school. He was concerned about letting things slip or his answers to questions not matching his fake academic record. He had memorised it during the afternoon lessons and he had undertaken enough cases at Japanese high schools to know them well so he should sound like someone that had attended school in Japan.

Ariade waved him over and he walked towards the desk at the back of the office. In the back of his mind he wondered how Ariade had obtained such a quiet area in the office.

"Hello, Kazuo-san," he greeted and pulled out a chair for him. "Have a seat."

Naru sat down on the offered seat and rested his school bag against it. He spotted his fake school record on Ariade's desk. He was glad that he had memorised it.

"I have heard from your other teachers that you are a bright student and can always keep up well with the work despite just arriving here."

Naru nodded. High school work was easy when you had spent your teenage years doing harder work.

"Their only complaint was that sometimes you look bored and distant," Araide said. "What do you have to say about that?"

"Sometimes it's too easy for me and I finish early, but I don't like to admit that it was too easy in case everyone else thinks I'm looking down on them for not being as fast," Naru answered after thinking about what a 'normal' smart student would say.

"I understand. Have you made any friends here yet?"

Actually Naru couldn't stand the other students because of what they had done to Mai, but he couldn't say that without giving anything anyway. He elected to give a safe answer.

"I don't think I know any of them well enough to be certain."

The teacher took note of that and suddenly asked the same question that he was asked by the female students.

"I hear that you were friendly with Hirai-san yesterday and went to the library with her."

Naru realised that Ariade must have seen them at some point on the way to the library. He gave the same answer he told the girls earlier and that satisfied him.

"How do you feel about bullying in school?"

That was the question that everyone had in common apart from Mai. He wasn't sure how to answer it. One answer would be sure to get him on Ariade's target list but it was difficult to say if there was a safe answer.

"Firstly, I don't agree with it at all. I also feel that it doesn't get taken seriously enough by teachers in schools. I would also never bully anyone myself," he said after a moment of consideration.

With a pang he realised that some of his early actions towards Mai could be interpreted as bullying. He had manipulated her into helping him out on the first case by not mentioning that the broken camera was covered by insurance. He would have to apologise when she woke up from the coma.

Ariade was silent for a moment and then he smiled.

"That was a nice answer, Kazuo-san. We will have to see if you keep to it."

He slid out a piece of paper from a file and placed it in front of Naru. Without even seeing it the narcissist knew that it was the mysterious contract that he had heard about.

"I need you to sign this paper. It's just a formality that all students at this school need to sign. It's nothing that you need to read."

"I like to read things before I sign them," Naru said sharply.

Araide shrugged. "You can read it first if you like."

The contract detailed student confidentiality about information given to teachers and what was kept on record. Everything seemed to be above board and standard for an confidentiality contract. Naru went to turn the paper over and Ariade stopped him.

"Kazuo-san, I am need to go somewhere after this and I am running late. Could you sign the contract now so I can file it and leave?"

Naru hesitated and then he remembered something important.

"All I need to do is sign my full name?"

"Yes," the teacher replied shortly. "Just your name is necessary."

With that confirmed Naru signed it as Narumi Kazuo and handed the pen back. When all the teachers had left the school, SPR could enter the office and find out what the other half of the contract said.

Ariade picked up they signed contract and placed it in a file that was put in a locked drawer. That wouldn't present a challenge, Lin had a lock pick somewhere for emergencies.

"Thank you for that Kazuo-san," he smiled. "You can go now."

Naru picked up his bag and left the office. Lin was not going to be happy with him at all. He would have to make sure he explained himself first before Lin could get a word in.

* * *

Instead of heading up the stairs to the SPR office, Naru stopped off at the café on the ground floor instead. He couldn't go in the office if Mimi Hirai as still there with John and Masako.

He ordered a cup of tea and sat down at a table far away from the window. He dialled Masako's number. She picked up after five rings and he could hear her closing a door behind her.

"Hello?"

"Hara-san, is Hirai still with you?" He asked.

"She is," Masako answered. "It has been easy to keep her with us so far. Would you like to know what we have heard from her? It concerns Mai."

Naru took out his black notebook.

"I would like to hear it. We are running on a tight schedule."

The sound of rustling paper became evident and he could tell that Masako had been taking notes.

"As we knew, Mai was absent when they all signed their contracts and she never did get to have a meeting with Araide in between our cases. Because of that she was singled out from the rest of the class when she did return to school."

It was good to confirm everything they had thought of, but he had hoped that they would find out things that they hadn't already theorised.

"Is that all you got from her?"

"We showed her the student records that Mai stole and she showed signs of recognising them. She said she felt there was something familiar about them, however she couldn't confirm that she ever knew them."

That was something new. She could only vaguely recognise students that she had been in a homeroom class with. The girl that had mentioned one of the missing students before had remembered and then forgot again. There was something going on with the students' minds in the class.

"What was her reaction when she mentioned Araide? Did her eyes change?"

Masako sounded surprised when she answered. "How did you know that? Her eyes looked vacant when we mentioned him. It was actually very creepy."

"I've seen quite a few things at that school. His influence on them is very strong. Did you ask her about attacking Mai?"

"We did," Masako paused. "...She said that she didn't want to do it, but the compulsion from Araide was too strong. Apparently a couple of others felt the same way as well. The rest of them were happy to do it."

That was not a good thing to hear. The remaining students in that class sounded blood thirsty and dangerous. A normal person would object to attacking a member of their class. Mimi's reaction to not want to do it was the expected one. He would have to find out the other students that resisted so he could talk to them as well.

He obtained their names from Masako and ended the call after hearing that she didn't have anything new to tell him. Naru sipped his cup of tea critically, it was nowhere near as good as Mai's.

He had just finished the cup when he observed someone familiar walking towards him. The omnouji did not look pleased with him.

"Did you get a copy of the contract?" Naru asked.

Instead of answering Lin produced a photocopy from his pocket and held it up.

"Why did you sign it without knowing what was written on the other side?"

Naru smirked. "The contract isn't valid. My name isn't Narumi Kazuo. He won't have any control over me."

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you to everyone that has reviewed or favourited this fanfiction so far. However I am putting this story on hiatus. I don't know if it will be permanent or temporary at the moment.**


	11. Notice

**Update: 21/12/17:**

This story has been adopted by ullet. I am editing the chapters written by ullet and posting them here. Any chapters after this point are not written by me, but have my approval.

Thank you.

* * *

 **Original message:**

Hello,

I have added this chapter to inform anyone reading this that I am placing this story on permanent hiatus. It has almost been a year since I last updated and it is only fair that I tell anyone that has subscribed and is waiting for it that it will not be updated.

I apologise again and thank you to those who did support it at the time.


	12. Chapter 11 (New Author)

**Hello,**

 **Firstly, this story has been adopted by an author named ullet. We decided that it would be best to keep the story as it is and add the new chapters on here instead of reuploading on ullet's account and deleting this version.**

 **All the chapters after chapter 10 have been written by ullet and edited by me. I hope that everyone who was a fan of Nightmare School will enjoy the new chapters.**

 **Secondly, Happy New Year!**

* * *

 **NIGHTMARE SCHOOL**

 **CHAPTER 11:**

"It can't be," said Naru, thick horror in his voice when he was finished reading the content of the contract. Lin could barely hear him.

"What is it?" Lin asked, trying to conceal his worry from his face. He swore that frown between Naru's eyebrows would stick forever if he didn't lose it soon.

Naru didn't answer him and gave the sheet of paper to Lin instead. He pinched the bridge of his nose, his headache was starting torment him. And his tea-maker was in hospital, trapped inside her own mind. Great. Just great!

"Naru, this is impossible," Lin flabbergasted with the content. "There should be something extra in it that tells us how Ariade-san controls everyone."

The contract was exactly as he had read it. There was nothing extra hidden in it. Nothing more. Nothing less.

"That's why I'm confused by it." His thinking pose looked so stiff. This case was really testing his ability and patience. "We better discuss it with the others. Are they done with Mimi-san?"

Lin nodded. He took out his phone to call Bou-san. "We can go up now. Mimi-san already went home with Yasuhara-san and Brown-san."

Naru gathered his things and went to cashier to pay his bill. They were silent on way to the office, busy with their own thoughts.

Lin opened the door and was welcomed by the exhausted faces of the SPR members. Yasuhara and Bou-san had been struggling inside all day at the library. John and Masako were similarly exhausted. Who wouldn't be if you had to interrogate a student who was scared of being the next victim of her evil teacher?

"Hey, guys," said Bou-san weakly.

Masako, who always looked impeccable now had sagging shoulders.

"What did you guys find?" asked Naru straightforwardly, he wasn't willing to waste any of the time that they had left. Mai's life was on the line.

"Blunt like always, heh?" The blond replied sarcastically.

"We don't have time for chit-chat," Naru's tone was stern. He was sitting down on his armchair and whilst Lin was on couch, turning on his laptop to enter the new progress of their case. If there was any of it.

"How about we wait for John and Yasuhara? That way we can discuss it together without repeating our information. The more heads, the better," Bou-san offered. He himself needed time to have a break and a cup of iced coffee would be nice. That thought had immediately made him sorrowful. It was Mai's iced coffee he wanted, even though it was winter. He would soak in an iced coffee pool with snow, if that could make her wake up.

Naru scowled, but he knew he was right. "Fine."

"Would you guys want some tea? I know my tea isn't as good as Mai's but, at least it will reduce our fatigue and calm us," Masako was honest about that. She herself admitted that Mai's tea always makes her feel peaceful, especially after her full schedule of filming.

They all nodded. Masako was surprised Naru would want her tea but, she knew better that his assistant's tea will always be his favourite. No one can beat Mai in that department. That was also one of the things that Masako hated the most about Mai.

With that thought Masako went to the kitchen to prepare a full pot of tea, considering John and Yasuhara should be arriving anytime now.

No.

It wasn't Mai that she hated.

She hated herself.

True, Naru went on date with her. But, that was because she blackmailed him. While Mai gained all Naru's trust with her pureness; she didn't even know who his real identity back then. She also had forgiven him for everything he had done. Including his way of rejecting Mai's confession. She knew about it because Mai told her when they slowly became friends.

Masako walked back to the meeting room with a tray full of teacups and a big teapot. When she finished pouring tea into her cup, John opened the door. They greeted them with faces much like the occupants of the couch.

"Nice to see you, Boss. Just for your information, Mimi-chan was upset because she couldn't see you today," Yasuhara tried to lift up the mood.

Naru glared at him. "I need information about the case."

Of course, Yasuhara had failed. Nothing can make Naru feel better than a cup of Mai's tea.

Yasuhara cringed and chose to sit down far from his boss. Masako kindly poured two cups of tea for the new occupants. They said their thanks and gulped it down like a wolf. Winter this year was so cold.

"What did you find from her today?" Naru started their meeting with his notebook. That notebook wasn't new, but neither was old. It was Gene's last birthday present for him, although he hated Naru always wore or used everything black.

"There isn't new information from Mimi, aside from what I already said to you before on the phone," Masako replied, hiding behind her sleeve.

"Does she remember attacking another classmate beside from Mai?" His expression was flat, more aloof than usual.

"No, she doesn't. When we gave her the missing students' records, she said she didn't know who are they. But, she looks unsure with what she said. Like there was a flicker of memories trying to reveal themselves but, it didn't happen," John explained for them.

Naru was disappointed.

"Yasuhara?" Naru moved his attention to the college student. The Joker of SPR. He was the Joker not only because he can make fun of anything. It was also because he always has secret cards under his sleeves.

Yasuhara's demeanour changed to serious, his glasses glinted without humour in it. He pulled out his paper of investigation notes from his backpack. It was quite thick.

"I went to the local library this morning with Bou-san, trying to dig information about the student who committed suicide. His name was Fujita Naoki. His family consisted of a father, mother, and a little sister. He was a bright student, smart, friendly, diligent, and other good points. His family, teachers, and friends liked him a lot. The parents were so proud of him because he got scholarship from Tokyo University during his second year of high school but, that was the same year he killed himself. No one knows the reason, not even his family. Fujita-san's parents believe it was impossible for their son took his own life just like that, but the police didn't find any leads that indicated it was a homicide or any other oddities." He took a sip of his tea; his throat was so dry after disclosing what he got that day. "This is his photo from his first year," Yasu gave the picture to Naru.

Fujita Naoki wasn't handsome, but he was still a nice-looking boy. Black hair with deep brown eyes, quite skinny but tall enough for his age. He was smiling in the photo, such a carefree smile, yet so much mystery he left on the living. After memorising the face and build, he gave it to the others to do the same.

"Did Fujita-san have a best friend or a girlfriend?" Naru asked, feeling frustrated that Yasuhara's information couldn't identify whether he was the ghost possessing Ariade or not. They really needed Mai to dream, badly.

"Wait," he said while flipping his files. "Ah. He had one best friend, his name is Itou Kagami. He lives not far from his school. No girlfriend. Do you want me to interview him tomorrow?" Yasuhara offered, though he already knows the answer.

"Yes, do that. And go to the Fujita-san's house to investigate more about him. Pretend you are his longtime friend. John and Hara-san go to the missing students' house. Just the Catholic ones. Takigawa-san, you stay in school with Lin and try to protect Mimi-san as you can," Naru instructed them to their posts tomorrow.

"Why only the Catholic ones?" Bou-san asked, bewildered with the Boss' demand.

"You heard Yasuhara's explanation yesterday. The family of the missing students won't give any information about their children. John being a priest can approach a Catholic family easier than any of us. While Hara-san can recognize if there were any spirit in their houses or not."

"Okay, that makes sense. How about me? I can do that with the Buddhist familes." He grinned with a lot of confidence.

Naru arched a brow, whilst Lin kept on typing with Yasuhara's findings. "No one will believe you are a Monk with that long hair. Even if you were wearing your robes and show off your Vajra, you will only get accused of being a swindler," the college student snickered at him.

"Hey! Don't judge book by its cover!" Bou-san protested, making them chuckle a little.

"Kazuya-san, what should I say to the family when I go to them? Do I have to hide that we are from SPR or the church instead?" John asked from couch on Naru's left side.

Naru think from a moment. "Tell them you are from the church and Hara-san is helping you with it."

He didn't want to cause a commotion by telling the family the truth, that they were investigating their child's death.

"If there is a ghost, should I exorcise it?"

"Only if it is threatening you or is malevolent. Aside from that, Hara-san will try speak to them."

Both of them nodded, understanding their tasks. "Do you think it is him who is possessing Ariade-san?" Masako asked.

Naru folded both his hands and put them on his knee. "We don't know, yet. But, there is high possibility it's Fujita-san. The timeframe matches. We just need to find out what his motive is and how he did it."

That was easy to say for him, but hard to unveil it.

"What information do you get from school, Boss?"

Yasu being Yasu. He knew his Boss could tell when he had found something.

Naru sighed. "Today Ariade-san called me to his office and asked me about school, friends, and bullying. And he wanted me to sign a contract for him."

"What!?" Bou-san and Yasuhara screamed.

"Did you sign it?" Masako hid half of her face with her kimono sleeve.

"Yes, I did."

"What!?" the bassist player and joker screamed again.

"Stop yelling! I'm not deaf!" Naru chided and glared at them.

"Bu-but, if you signed it then, Ariade-san can control you like the other students. Are you stupid?" Bou-san cried.

Uh-oh.

"You are the stupid one. Do you remember what is my name at school?" his voice was so scathing.

"Kazuo Narumi," Yasuhara mumbled the name. "Oh, Boss! You're a genius! He can't control you if you signed it as Kazuo."

Bou-san eventually understand what Yasu had said. "Did you read what is inside the contract?" Naru nodded. "And?"

"Nothing."

All of them froze. "What do you mean, Kazuya-san?" John was the first to respond.

Now Lin start talking. "The contract is just a contract. Nothing seems off about it. The subject matter is only about confidentiality between teachers and students."

Masako frowned, they all did in fact. "No way. That contract had to be something, the key of this case."

That was Naru thought and Lin had said before. "See for yourself," he handed the contract paper to Masako.

The members came around Masako to read it as well.

"What the hell is really going on at this school?" Bou-san exhaled such a long breath, pushed his hair back. "It's like we are back to square one,"

Naru scowled. "No, we aren't. This contract may be the key, but that doesn't mean we will give up solving the case."

They stared at Naru and to each other, then smiled. Naru was right, he always was.

"There is no way I would give up. When Mai wakes up, I will tease her about being a trouble magnet again," Yasuhara grinned while fixing his glasses.

Bou-san laughed. "And don't forget about how she slept like a log at the hospital."

"Or she snored like a troll," Masako added, small smile blooming behind her sleeve.

"Of how we needed her on this case," John continued, showing his angelic smile.

And then Lin said his piece. "Also, a certain Englishman missed her tea," he smirked.

Naru shot his glare at Lin, but didn't say anything. Really, Lin was immune to those glares he always shooting.

They laughed, feeling a little bit lighter after all the events they had gone through. They all remember Mai, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

A girl, almost young woman, slept in a hospital room, accompanied by the sound of the heart monitor and intravenous drip. The room was dark, no one was there. And no one saw her finger twitch and her heart rate pick up, slightly faster than before.


	13. Chapter 12 (New Author)

**I am happy that the response to another author has been so good. Thank you for supporting ullet.**

* * *

 **NIGHTMARE SCHOOL:**

 **CHAPTER 12:**

The next day the CEO of SPR went to school whilst hiding his yawn. All night he was doing research about the incident at Fujita's school. There was no indication or clue to the cause of his suicide. It appeared that the school had been attempting to cover up the cause of the suicide.

He saw Mimi-san in the hallway outside the classroom. She looked anxious about walking into the classroom. He noticed that she was shivering once he got closer.

"Good morning, Mimi-san," Naru started to greet her, standing in front of the classroom door.

Mimi shrieked and turned around with a pounding heart. "Oh, Kazuo-san, good morning. You scared me there!"

Naru smiled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you. Are you going in?"

"Y-yes," she answered and followed Naru into the classroom. She had to face the music.

"Kazuo-san! Good morning," one of the girls greeted him, then her eyes shifted to Mimi who was looking down at her shoes. "You have guts to come to school, Mimi." Her tone was full of mockery when she said her name.

"She comes to school just because she doesn't want to fail," said another student from the back of the classroom.

"And to meet Kazuo-san!"

All the students laughed at that. Mimi-san's eyes started to water.

Then a girl, who usually had lunch with Naru came to the front of the classroom and slipped her arm through his. Naru tried so hard to not flinch at the touch.

"If that were the case, then I have to tell you this. Kazuo-san doesn't like you. He said you are boring and don't have any appeal for him. Instead, he likes me rather than you."

Okay. Naru said almost all of those things. Except for the last sentence. Damn, he hates all of these shallow students.

Mimi looked up to Naru. "Is that true, Kazuo-san?" her voice wavered. She thought that Kazuo would be on her side, but in reality he wasn't. She has a crush on him and if that were true, it would break her heart.

Ah, she was about to cry and Naru started to feel bad. Not because she would probably cry in a minute but because he was one of the factors of why she was in that position of being bullied by the teacher and students.

He stilled himself. He had job to do, and that was to solve this case and bring Mai back. He couldn't bear lose one of his precious loved ones again.

"Yes, that's true, Mimi-san. You are a boring person," he said with his icy tone. The girl beside him giggled.

Mimi sobbed and tears were rolling down to her face.

She would have run away from them if she didn't know that the bell was about to go. She quickly walked to her chair.

But when she sat down, the chair wobbled for a second before the legs of the chair broke. She fell and landed on the ground on her butt. Her skirt hiked up, showing her Hello Kitty underwear.

They all laughed again at her misfortune. The misfortune that they had been planning from the start.

A boy laughed very hard. "I see why Kazuo-san said you are not appealing at all. Your kiddy underwear is the proof of it."

Mimi could only cry.

Naru had to hide his fist inside his pocket and hold back his bile. He reminded himself that they were under Ariade's control. They were puppets for him.

Speak of the devil. Yes, he was a devil.

Ariade walked into the classroom and the students rushed to their own seats. Naru swore he saw a satisfied smirk when Ariade looked at Mimi crying.

"Hirai-san, get another chair from the storeroom."

Mimi stood and did what Ariade said.

"Good job, everyone. Extra credit for you all," Ariade said and started to take attendance.

The nightmare school had just begun.

Again.

* * *

After his morning classes, Yasuhara called Fujita's high school. He forgot to do it the day before because he had been so engrossed in research at the local library. To his disappointment he didn't get anything from the school. They even rudely put the phone down on him. He felt it would waste time if he did to pay a visit to that school.

Instead he went to Itou Kagami's house. His mother had told him that Itou lived in an apartment close to his university. Yasu had used his manipulative charms to obtain the address. It was quite far but was still reachable by train.

"Third floor, number 302. 302, 302," he mumbled as he walked down the corridor to find Itou's apartment. "Ah, there it is!"

He pressed the buzzer which had Itou's name written across it. The first time didn't get any response so he pressed again.

"Wait a second." came a male voice from inside.

The door opened to reveal a handsome young man. His hair was black, one shade lighter than Naru's, he had golden eyes and was tall as well as well built. He was wearing a grey t-shirt and casual pants. He looked like he had just woken up.

"Good afternoon. My name is Yasuhara Osamu. Nice to meet you. Are you Itou Kagami-san?" Yasu asked with a friendly yet professional smile after bowing respectfully.

"Yes, I am. Do I know you?" Itou asked him in return, charmed by the shine of Yasu's smile.

"No, you don't. I'm from Shibuya Psychic Research and I came here to talk about your best friend."

Itou frowned. "My best friend?"

He had many friends, but there was only person he considered as his best friend.

"Yes. His name was Fujita Naoki."

Itou's face paled as soon as that name came out from Yasu's mouth.

* * *

Masako picked John up from outside the church after finishing her filming for the day and drove him to one of the missing student's house. Due to their lack of information about the victims, they happened to accidentally choose one with a family that was part of John's parish.

Abe Umeko.

Masako ordered her driver to go to the west side of Shibuya.

On the way, they were silent. John prayed for their task will be go smoothly and for Mai to recover. Masako folded her hands on her lap and thought about Mai.

When they arrived at Abe's house, Masako asked. "Can we go to the hospital after this?"

John looked at her and smiled. "Yes, we can."

That smile affected her enough to give him a small smile in return.

"Thank you, John."

He nodded and got out of the car. They walked side by side to the front door. It was a two-storey house that wasn't large or small, it was just a decent size for a three-membered family. But, now there were only two.

Yes, I'm coming," a motherly sounding female voice called out before she opened the door.

"Good afternoon, Abe-san. My name is John Brown. I'm a priest and I've been assigned to give you a service. It's nice to meet you," John greeted her with a very dazzling smile and a bow that caused Abe-san to believe she could see mini angels on his shoulder. "This is my friend who is going to help me, her name is Hara Masako."

Masako bowed at her. "Nice to meet you."

John and Masako could see how weary and sad the mother was over the death of her only daughter.

"Oh. Yes, Father Toujo called me this morning about it. Thank you for coming, Father Brown, Hara-san," said Abe-san with a forced smile and she bowed to them. She didn't recognize Masako because she was too fraught with grief. "Nice to meet you too. Come on in."

Usually the church will send one of their priests to console a family with a heavy burden or one that has gone through a crucial event.

Abe-san ushered them into the living room. The house was adorned with crucifixes, a painting of the Holy Communion and picture of Jesus praying.

"I'm sorry that my husband isn't here," she said as she served them tea and cookies.

John started to ask the easy questions.

"It's okay. How are you, Abe-san?" John asked slowly, sipping his tea.

"I'm fine, Father," she answered automatically, like how she usually did whenever people asked that.

"But you don't seem fine, Abe-san. Is there any problem that I can help with?"

Most people couldn't lie to John's bright blue eyes. He looked so sincere and his appearance was enough to soothe her. She needed to blurt out the burden from her heart.

"But-"she broke off and looked at Masako warily. Abe-san wasn't a type to share her sadness with the world.

Masako understood. "Abe-san, can I look round your house if you don't mind?" She smiled, reassuring her that she won't get in the way of their private session. Also, this was her chance to explore the house to check if there were any spirits.

"Sure. But, my house isn't that fancy," she agreed.

"I like it. Your house feels warm and comfortable." Masako can act like a sweet girl if she wants to. The house felt like what she had just said. A house for a happy family.

"Thank you," she whispered softly.

Masako nodded. "Please, excuse me."

She went out of the room after John whispered to be careful.

Masako walked around the house and then she climbed the stairs to go up to the next floor. There was a pink heart-shaped nameplate on the first door.

'Umeko-chan's room'

Fortunately, the door wasn't locked. Sadness, fear, and helpless emotions hit Masako as she opened the door. The emotions were too overwhelming for her. Masako had to hold on to the door handle while she let her tears fell.

* * *

It was already 6 pm when Yasuhara left the library. From Itou's apartment, he went to Fujita's house but nobody was there. He asked the neighbour and she said that Fujita-san was still at his office. The old lady informed him that he usually comes home at five or five thirty.

She told Yasuhara that Fujita-san's wife had already passed away. His daughter had got a scholarship and now studies at Osaka University.

The nights came faster in the winter and it became colder every day. On his way to Fujita's, Yasuhara found himself hoping that Mai would wake up before Christmas. He was really tired, but whenever remembered what happened to Mai he couldn't bring himself to take a break. She was his best friend and best friends always have each other's backs.

He grimaced when he was recalling Itou's story about Fujita. About what best friend can do to you. What best friends are willing to say about you. It made Yasuhara question himself, what is a best friend? What the meaning of a best friend? Who your best friend really is?

Yasuhara stored those thoughts at the back of his mind as the door opened to reveal a middle aged man with sand pepper hair who was wearing a benhur shade of blue shirt and black trousers.

"Ah, good evening, Fujita-san," he greeted him. "My name is Yasuhara Osamu. I'm Naoki-san's friend and junior from middle school. Nice to meet you." Yasuhara bowed politely.

Fujita-san glanced at him, clearly suspicious of him. "I never heard Naoki's friend named Yasuhara Osamu."

When Naoki was still alive, he liked to tell him about his friends and school.

"We weren't that close. I arrived last week from New York. And yesterday my friend from middle school told me about him and I feel like I need to pay him my respects, he was my senior after all. My deepest condolences to you, Sir, and sorry if I'm too late to say it," he gave deep bow to him. "May I come in, please? I just want to burn incense and pray for him."

Yasuhara knows how to win the heart of old people.

"Thank you, Yasuhara-san." Then he hesitantly moved to the side of the door. "Come in."

If he was from middle school, that means he wasn't involved in the incident at Naoki's high school.

That's also the reason Yasuhara said he was a friend from middle school. If he said he was from the same high school as Naoki, the father would become more suspicious than he already was.

Fujita-san ushered him to Naoki's altar room. There were two altars in fact. One for Naoki, one for his wife.

"Ah, your wife…" He pretended to not know about it, hoping it will make him start to talk.

The husband nodded. He hadn't finished grieving his son and wife. "She died eight months after Naoki. She couldn't take the blow and fell to desperation. Naoki was her favorite child."

"Can I pray for her too?"

"Yes, please. Only a few people came to pray for her." He rubbed the nape of his neck awkwardly.

Yasuhara walked to Naoki's altar with his picture. He sat with folded legs, burned incense, and prayed for him. He really prayed for him. He may an evil ghost now, but he was once a human. A betrayed human being.

After that he moved to the mother's altar and did the same. When he was done with the ritual, he stood up and bowed to them.

"Would you like some tea?" Fujita-san asked. He may be alone now, but he doesn't forget to be courteous to his guest. Especially to an amiable young man.

Yasuhara was grinning, full of victory inside. This what he had been waiting for. "Why, of course, Fujita-san. Thank you."

* * *

"Masako, are you sure you okay?" asked John when they were done with their task. They managed to visit three more houses after Abe's. It was technically four but, one of families had already moved out.

Their trips to the houses all ended up with Masako having to brace herself from fainting from the emotions she encountered inside and from the upset families. They ended their task for the day when Masako couldn't take it anymore.

"I will be okay, John. Thanks," Masako answered him with a tired smile. "Although, I still want to go to the hospital."

"Okay. But don't push yourself, please." John worried about Masako. Her complexion wasn't looking good to him.

"Don't worry."

The smell of medicine surrounded the hospital. Doctors and nurses milled around to look after their patients. The white walls were so blinding and the marble floor was cold to the touch. The hospital was where people are born, are healed and eventually die.

John knocked on the door of Mai's room. Ayako told them to come in.

"Hello, Ayako-san."

"Hello, John, Masako," she greeted them with panda eyes but she had a sincere smile.

John closed the door behind him. "How is Mai?"

"Last night her heart rate picked up a little bit. But, this morning it returned to a slow rate again. I don't know if that's good news or not."

John looked at his friend. She looked vulnerable and weak. She might be a danger magnet and ghosts loved her. Like fire to the moths. But, she has never been a weak one. She always bounced back, even stronger than before.

"Ayako, go rest. John and I will take care of her for a few hours," Masako said from her side.

"But, Masako I-"

Masako cut her off. "We don't want you to collapse from exhaustion. And if you did, who will watch over her?"

Ayako sighed. "Fine. I will rest in the staff room. Wake me when you are leaving. Got it?"

"Got it, Ayako-san. Just rest."

Ayako nodded and thanked them before leaving.

John let Masako sit on the chair beside Mai's bedside. He took off his rosary necklace from around his neck and put it on Mai. After that he held Mai's hand and prayed for her.

"John, could you wait outside, please? I want to… talk to Mai," she said after John was done with his prayer. It was girl talk she intended to have after all.

"Sure. I will wait outside. If you need anything, just ask," he nodded in understanding, and went out the room.

Masako wasn't the type to touch or want to be touched, but she still held Mai's hand. It took five full minutes before she talked.

"How are you Mai?"

There was no response.

"The others miss you," she paused for a moment. "…I miss you. Do you know that Naru pretends to be a student at your school to solve this case? He wears a school uniform and it looks good on him. So, you better wake up and see it for yourself."

There was still no smile appearing on those white lips.

"And… and he is so moody lately. We think it's because of the withdrawal from your tea," she chuckled. "Only you can handle him."

Suddenly the lamp flickered.

Masako looked up, not letting go of Mai's hand. She sharpened her ability to sense if there were any creatures from another plane.

"John," Masako called, and John immediately opened the door. He'd also seen the lamp flicker from the gap at the bottom of the door.

"Masako, what's wrong?"

The room became colder and colder.

"John!" Masako turned around to see him. "I don't know what is happening but-"

She turned around again and…

There she was.

Both eyes were open.

"Mai," Masako whispered.


	14. Chapter 13 (New Author)

**NIGHTMARE SCHOOL:**

 **CHAPTER 13:**

Mai opened her eyes and felt like she had just woken up from a long sleep. She looked around to see only darkness. The last time she had been here, there had been a lot of will-o'-the-wisps.

She stood up warily, scared that she will disturb something if she moved too suddenly.

"Hello," she called, almost yelling. Her voice echoed through the astral plane.

After she sure there were no will-o'-the-wisps, she took a step forward.

"Gene, are you here?"

Once again, there was no answer. She sighed dejectedly. Neither Gene or the will-o'-the-wisps were around to keep her company.

Mai started to walk without any direction. Seriously, it was hard to know where to go on the astral plane. Firstly, it was so dark and she was the only thing glowing. Secondly, there were no signposts or hints of a map.

As she walked she thought about her substitute family.

"What are they doing now? Has Naru already solved the case? Am I dead?" Mai stopped and dread pooled in her stomach.

"No, I can't think like that. I have to be optimistic. I'm sure Naru will get me out of here." The knot in her stomach began to lessen slowly. "I believe Naru will. He has always rescued me from danger."

That thought made Mai smile. That was one thing she can count on Naru for.

She didn't know how long she had been walking. Then, all of a sudden, the scene changed and threw Mai into another place and time.

Mai found herself in the hallway of a school. The sun had just set in the west which illuminated the hallway in a yellow-orangish hue. At least she wasn't in black darkness anymore.

Down the hall, there was a male teacher walking towards Mai. He wore an eggplant purple dress-shirt buttoned all the way up and black slacks with a belt. His hair was black and had started to bald, he had black eyes, and not too subtle wrinkles here and there. All in all, he looked like a proper teacher.

But, Mai felt something wrong coming from him so she decided to follow him. Even his back looked stiff to Mai, it reminded her of Naru or Lin's posture. She followed him up the stairs to the second floor.

When she turned round the corner, someone tapped her shoulder. Mai looked to her left and almost screamed.

"Gene! What are you doing here?" she asked, relieved that he was with her.

"The question is how can you be here?" he countered. "Were you able to get away from the will-o'-the-wisps?"

"I don't know how I can be here. All I know is that I woke up on the astral plane without them and then I was here. I don't understand it myself."

Gene made a mental note to discuss it with Noll.

"Okay. Come on, I have a feeling that the teacher has a role in this case," he pointed to the man.

Gene offered his hand to Mai and she gladly took it. She nodded and together they chased the man who was already halfway down the corridor.

The man abruptly stopped in his tracks after looking through the small window in a classroom door. He clenched his hands into fists.

What could have been going on in the classroom to make the teacher so annoyed? They approached him at the same time he roughly slid the door open.

"Itou-san! Fujita-san! What are you doing here!?" he asked with a resentful tone in his voice.

The schoolgirl and her boss' twin followed him inside the classroom. Well, Mai's face reddened as she looked at the two boys, whilst Gene snickered next to her.

To word it bluntly, Itou and Fujita were in a state that suggested they had been making out in the classroom.

Both of their shirts were unbuttoned all the way down, and their hair looked disheveled. Luckily their trousers were still on them.

The boys scrambled to stand from their suggestive position on the desk. One of the them looked like he was ready to faint whilst he buttoned up his shirt. The other looked unbothered by his state of undress.

"Fujita! You are a model student at this school. I can't believe you are gay and moreover, that you almost had sexual intercourse in the classroom. Do you know what will happen to your reputation if everyone found out about this?"

The brown-haired boy's eyes widened. "Ka-Kamakura-sensei. Ple-please, I'm begging you. Don't tell anyone," he pleaded like there was no tomorrow.

Kamakura-sensei ignored him and looked at them in disgust. "And you Itou-san! You were known as a playboy. Are you now gay too?"

"I'm bisexual, actually. You do know the difference right, Sensei?" he asked without any trace of guilt on his face. He looked nonchalant and dared to yawn.

Kamakura glared at Itou. "My office, now!"

After that, the vision warped and the scene changed into a different school day. Maybe few days or a week after the shameful incident.

The students were whispering whilst looking at a certain male student with curiosity, disgust and pity on their faces. The male student they were looking at was Fujita Naoki. The student himself was wondering why they were acting like he was guilty of the seven deadly sins as he walked down the hallway to his classroom.

As he opened the classroom door, he was welcomed by someone throwing a blackboard eraser straight at his face. Fujita coughed because of the chalk dust. His face stung and he realised he was covered in white powder.

He heard the other students laughing.

"Sorry, Naoki-san! I didn't see you there," said the light brown-haired boy who had thrown the eraser. "But don't worry, you look absolutely gorgeous now."

"You mean a gorgeous faggot?" one of students shouted so, the students outside the class could hear him.

"Wh-what do you mean by a faggot?" Fujita stuttered, not giving a damn about his face.

"O-of course, be-because you are gay!" he copied how Fujita stuttered.

The laughter boomed again.

"Oh, look! His face is so pale, guys! Like a ghost!"

"No, he looks like a gay geisha!"

They were enjoying spending their time ridiculing him like he was a rare animal. No, a rare animal would get special treatment and would be appreciated. But him? He was treated like garbage, a freak.

"How do you know that?" His saliva tasted so heavy in his throat.

"Chi-chan overheard your parents and principal's conversation two days ago about how you made out with Kagami-kun," a girl sitting by the window told him.

The girl named Chizuru who was sitting in front of her, sneered at Fujita.

"Kagami-kun said you forced him to do it because you threatened him about seeing him going to a club after hours. You really are a pervert, you know," Chizuru said disdainfully and looked at Itou for confirmation. "Right, Kagami-kun?"

All eyes turned to Itou Kagami who was sitting in his chair with a pretty girl on his lap like usual. Fujita's heart broke when he saw Itou was back to his playboy self.

"That's right. I know I'm wrong about going to the club, but he used it to blackmail me," he sighed with a miserable expression. "I like girls, you know."

"It's okay, Kagami-chan. You are a handsome guy, it's not surprising if one or two boys have crush on you. But don't worry, I will protect you," said the girl on his lap whilst hugging him.

Itou smiled. "Thank you, Haru-chan. You're the best!"

"W-what?" Fujita was dumbfounded by the false explanation. "Kagami! You know that wasn't the truth!"

"Shut up, Naoki! You can be gay however, stop bothering him and don't force any guy into your games again!"

The scene changed again. This was the first time Mai had experienced such a long post-cognitive dream. And maybe it will be even longer because of her state.

It was a scene between Itou and Kagami in a deserted hallway. They were alone, maybe after school. Fujita was on the verge of tears and his face showed how betrayed he was.

"How could you lie to them? How could you!?" Fujita screamed in Itou's face, gripping his collar although he was shorter than Itou.

"I don't understand what you mean, Naoki."

"You don't understand? You know full well that I didn't force you into anything. You were the one who seduced me first and you say you don't understand!?"

Itou snorted at that. "And you think I'm serious about you?"

"You are my best friend!"

"I _was_ your best friend," Itou corrected him. "I befriended you because I thought you were different than everybody else. But, I guess I got bored with you."

That was it. That was the Fujita's last straw to hold back his tears.

"You were toying with me?"

He shrugged. "You could say that."

"But why you lied to them? Blamed me?!"

"Because I have a reputation as a playboy to keep," he replied smoothly.

"Reputation!"

The scene ended there, and they were back to the dark astral plane.

"Mai, are you okay?" Gene asked when he saw Mai was crying quietly. They were still holding hands.

"Ah? Why?"

"You are crying."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She wiped away her tears. "It's sad to be betrayed by your best friend."

She doesn't know what she would do if her friends betrayed her. It must hurt like hell.

"It's even sadder that he was in love with him," Gene patted her head in understanding. "You don't need to apologise."

"Do you know them? Do they have some connection with the case?"

"I think so. I had tried to look into this case before, but failed miserably."

"Gene, can you reach Naru to tell him about this? I don't think I can wake up now."

"Yes, I can. He is always checking his mirror to ask about your condition."

Mai blushed. "That's because I'm his employee and he doesn't want my hospital costs to deplete SPR's funds."

"Is that so? Are you a mind-reader now?" Gene teased her. "Or just Naru's personal mind-reader?"

"Geez… Stop that, will you!" Her face turned redder. "Shoo, go away and tell him."

His smile faltered and became a worried smile. "Be careful, okay?"

Mai returned the smile. "I will. Now, go."

He started to fade away after he says. "I will tell him that you miss him."

"Gene!"

* * *

After Gene left, she felt sleepy and decided to rest for a bit after their journey into the past. Then she woke up with a jolt and opened her eyes.

"Huh? Where am I?"

She looked around the room. It had to belong to a girl judging by the pink furniture, walls and accessories. When she looked into the mirror, she realised that she wasn't Mai anymore. Her hair was black and straight and the eyes were similar to her own, but were a different shade of brown.

She changed out of her school uniform and into a t-shirt and shorts and she heard the sound of something breaking. She frowned and left her bedroom. She checked the living room and kitchen, but couldn't find anything amiss.

Then she heard the noise again and traced the sound. The noise was repeated again when she stopped at the end of the hallway by her brother's room. This time it was louder than before and was followed by mumbling that she couldn't understand.

She wondered what he was doing. Lately her brother had become a recluse which wasn't part of his normal personality. She knew it was because of the incident with Itou-san at school and he had earned a week's suspension from it. To be honest, she didn't care if he was gay or bisexual.

She stood outside her brother's room and was about to knock to ask if he was okay. She stilled when she heard him shout.

"I will curse them! I will curse that bastard!"

She was shocked by the venom in his voice and wondered what could have happened to make him like that. Slowly she twisted the knob and opened the door a little. Her eyes widened when she saw what was in her brother's grasp and replicated on the floor.

A pentagram.

A black inverted pentagram.

The scene changed again without warning and she was no longer the little sister. But she wasn't alone now. The will-o'-the-wisps were surrounding her with their blue ghostly fire. They didn't have any faces, however Mai had the feeling they were angry.

"Why? Is it because of my vision of the past?" she asked herself while stepping back from them.

They moved closer to Mai. She didn't want to know what will happen if they touched her.

"Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Chin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!"

Some of them flew back because of the Ku-ji. But more came to Mai at a much faster speed. Mai shielded herself with her arms. If she died here, everyone at SPR would remember her, won't they?

Her memories flashed in her head. Memories of her parents, friends from she was small. The first time she met Naru. Lin. Gene. Bou-san, Ayako, John, Yasuhara. All their smiles sealed in her heart.

Before the blue fire could touch Mai, a necklace appeared on her from out of nowhere.

A rosary necklace.

The necklace was followed by a prayer. Mai knew that voice. Only he can produce such a soothing sounding prayer.

John.

He prayed for her.

He remembered her.

That was enough to send Mai into her old self.

She wouldn't die here.

The will-o'-the-wisps scattered. It looked like they had been hurt by the prayer and the rosary.

Unwilling to waste her chance, she ran away from them towards the unknown. She looked back and saw that the will-o'-the-wisps were chasing her although they had been slowed down by John's prayer.

The prayer stopped, but they still couldn't touch Mai because she still had the necklace on her which kept them a fair distance from her. She kept on running until she saw a light.

People say that light signifies the afterlife, however she didn't care anymore so…

She jumped into the light.


	15. Chapter 14 (New Author)

**NIGHTMARE SCHOOL**

 **CHAPTER 14:**

It was only the second class, but Mimi was already tired. Ariade sensei had left by the time she had retrieved another chair from the storage room. She walked timidly over to her desk and sat down, making sure not to make eye contact with anyone.

Throughout the lesson she could feel their hateful eyes staring at her. It caused her to get goosebumps up her neck and arms. She was unable to absorb any of the formulae during Math.

Mimi sighed. She knew it would be like this. SPR had informed her about it the previous day and they had promised to protect her as much as they could. But in this class, she was alone.

Whilst Naru was in a similar state, he didn't bother paying much attention to the lesson. However, his scientific brain still noticed the teacher's mistake on the blackboard. He sighed quietly to himself.

He asked himself why was he stuck here whilst the others were actively searching for information. There was nothing here except a bunch of kids bullying the outcast. Naru felt that he had to do something. He couldn't just sit around like this.

Maybe he could do something to trigger the spirit possessing Ariade and see if he reacted. But Lin had warned him about behaving in school. If he acted up it could affect Mai's tenuous comatose state.

The bell for lunch rang through the school. He was standing up when he caught Mimi staring at him. Naru just stared back at her with his cold eyes. Making girls cry was his specialty.

It took Mimi less than ten seconds to run out the classroom. Relief washed through Naru. Lin and Takigawa would find it easier to protect her when she was away from the class.

Last night Lin had notified him that the principal had given permission for them to put surveillance cameras around the school, especially in less populated areas. Yasuhara even managed to ask the principal to keep it quiet from everyone, including the teachers.

Lin had also said that the principal was actually quite fond of Mai. He had visited Mai twice from what Ayako had reported to them. He had agreed to all of SPR's needs so they could catch the culprit.

Since he could talk to Gene from a mirror, he was now carrying a pocket mirror everywhere. Naru didn't want anyone walk into the toilets and catch him staring at the mirror for a long time.

Naru went to the top floor of the school building and sat down on the top step. He pulled out his mirror and before he could even attempt to call out Gene, he appeared in the mirror.

"What took you so long to look into a mirror?" Gene scowled at him, his face now looked more like his younger brother's.

Naru ignored his complaint. "Do you find anything?"

"Even better," he said smugly to him with a grin.

"I don't have time to play guessing games," Naru retorted.

"You're no fun, Noll."

"Gene." His voice was full of warning.

"Idiot scientist," he mumbled. "Okay, okay. I met Mai."

Naru frowned. "How about the will-o'-the-wisps? You said they were preventing you from meeting her."

"That is what I wanted to tell you. Mai said she woke up without them and didn't know how was that possible. Before you ask, I don't know what was the cause either," he added when Naru looked like he was about to ask him.

"I'm sure they will come back."

He thought of every possible way that could make the will-o'-the-wisps leave.

"I guess so."

"How is she?" Naru asked slowly.

Gene pursed his lips, his expression looked like he was preparing to relay some bad news. If it was a different time, he would tease Naru about being a worrywart.

"To be honest, she doesn't look good. She looks more transparent than usual in the astral plane. I don't think she has much time left."

That was the truth. When he'd seen her in the hallway, he'd had to compose himself when he saw her transparent figure.

"Did she notice it?" Naru asked whilst clenching his hand into a fist.

"No, she didn't. I couldn't tell her." Gene felt Naru's PK rise up slightly. "But, I have good news. We had a vision from the past, and I think it has some connection with the case," he hurriedly diverted Naru's attention.

"Whose past?"

"Fujita Naoki and Itou Kagami. Do their names ring a bell?"

"Yes," Naru confirmed. "We suspect that Fujita-san is the one who possessing Ariade-san. Itou-san was his best friend."

"And I believe you have sent someone to interview him?"

"I assigned Yasuhara. What did you see?"

Gene began to tell the whole story he had seen with Mai.

"There. You have the motive for his suicide," he concluded.

"Did you see him planning or do his revenge against them?"

"No, I didn't. The feeling of being betrayed was much bigger than hatred," Gene relayed what he had felt from Fujita.

"Is that all?"

"Yes, that's all I can get from the past. I will try to contact Mai again and see if there is anything else she can see."

"Take care of her," he said reluctantly.

He didn't want to ask that of his brother, but right now only Gene could protect her.

Gene smiled, understanding that it had to be hard for him to ask something like that.

"I will do my best. Go, solve the case and bring back your princess."

Naru glared. "I'm not a damn prince."

"Oh no, you aren't. A prince has perfect manners. I think you're a mean dragon who abducts the princess. You will fly when she is in danger or blow your fire at whoever wants to take her away from you."

"It's not a fairy-tale."

Gene started to fade. "She misses you. You should visit her more often."

It took a moment for Naru to give him reply.

"Being by her side won't solve the case," with that he put his mirror back in his pocket.

Gene was still chuckling. "Definitely a mean dragon."

* * *

Naru went back down the stairs and as he did, he felt like someone was behind him. He looked back to see Mimi who was also on her way back to the classroom.

Mimi stopped in her tracks and couldn't look him in the eye. She seemed scared that he would make a nasty comment or do something bad.

He didn't bother giving her a second glance and continued on his way. He heard another set of footsteps that were unfamiliar and assumed it was someone else going back to their classroom.

When he reached the last step Naru heard Mimi scream. He automatically turned around to see a male student that he recognised as being his classmate.

In a split second the boy pushed Mimi down the stairs.

Mai had said he was the type who looks first before he leaps. But she had never realized that every time she was in danger, Naru would always be the first person who runs to save her no matter what the consequences are.

Why couldn't he do that now?

Naru caught Mimi easily, although she was a little heavier than Mai. He secured his arms around her body to make sure that they didn't both fall down.

"Hey! Are you out of your mind?" he scolded the culprit.

"Kazuo-san, why are helping her?" he asked with a frown as if Naru had ruined his effort to build a masterpiece.

"Maybe because I'm not an idiot like you. Do you know what would happen if the principal heard about this?"

As soon as the principal was mentioned, his face became as white as a sheet of paper. He fled from Naru's sight while cursing.

Naru was sure that the boy would tell Ariade about what happened. Good.

If Ariade brought him a storm, he would give him hell in return.

"Miyamoto-san," Mimi whispered after turning back to see her classmate's back.

Now Naru knew his name.

Naru immediately let go of her after making sure she could stand properly.

Mimi blushed at the memory of being saved and hugged by Kazuo. She couldn't help but think that his chest had felt sturdy and warm.

As he didn't have anything to say to her Naru continued on his way back to the classroom and began to descend the next flight of stairs.

"Ka-Kazuo-san!" Mimi called out before she could lose her courage.

Naru looked back for a second which was enough for her.

"Thank you," she said and bowed to him. She was truly grateful that Kazuo was there and caught her.

Naru merely nodded and walked to his class as the bell rang again.

* * *

"I said _don't_ act rashly. Everything is on the line here. Taniyama-san's life is on the line," Lin scolded him. Again.

They were already back at the SPR office with Takigawa who had been too late to protect Mimi. Not because he was slacking off, but because it had been impossible to reach her in time. And he swore that was the only time he had failed to do his job.

Takigawa had followed her everywhere she went. He walked behind her when she was in an empty area, sat near her when she was having lunch. The most embarrassing thing was, he knocked on the door of the girls' toilets when he heard someone cursing Mimi's name.

"I know what I'm doing, Lin. You don't have to tell me about Mai's condition, I know it very well," he replied with a cool voice, but his eyes couldn't hide his emotion.

His mask had begun to crack.

"Then tell me what were you doing?" Lin said with a deep exhale to release his anger.

"I wanted to make Ariade-san's target myself, not Mimi-san."

"And soon you will be bullied by him and will join Taniyama-san in hospital," Lin cut him off.

Naru hated to be interrupted so he ignored Lin's dissent.

"Do you think I'm the type who can be bullied by other people? Do you think I can't protect myself? You are the one who taught me how to defend myself."

"But-"

Now Naru cut him off. "We need to see his reaction when he sees someone who strong enough to take the bullying."

"Not to judge you, Naru-bou, but why you in a rush to trigger Ariade-san all of a sudden?" Takigawa asked carefully.

Naru didn't answer him and walked into the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of water and drank it to calm down.

Takigawa looked at Lin questioningly. Lin only shook his head whilst sighing. He knew Naru was on the verge of exploding his PK as soon as he had a valid reason to.

"You are not wrong, Takigawa-san," Naru replied whilst claiming his seat again. "We have to hurry before Mai's life slips away."

Naru began to give them information and instructed Lin to type it up.

"Woah… That's a lot of information to take in," said Takigawa whilst leaning his back on the couch.

Naru's cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw it was John who was calling him.

"Yes?" he said curtly.

"Kazuya-san, I think you should come to the hospital."

Naru stood up instantly and Lin saved the document. Takigawa saw their reactions and assumed that something bad had happened.

"John, what's wrong?" he asked while putting on his long black winter coat.

"It's about Mai."


	16. Chapter 15 (New Author)

**NIGHTMARE SCHOOL:**

 **CHAPTER 15:**

"Mai," Masako called louder than before. She almost cried at the sight of her friend. She knew that Mai wasn't dead yet, but seeing her in such a state made her believe that her death could occur anytime soon.

"Masako," Mai replied, startled by the sight of Masako.

And then she gasped when she noticed that her real body was on a hospital bed. She couldn't believe she looks that white and weak in real life.

John looked bewildered by Masako calling out Mai's name.

"Masako-san, who are you talking to?"

"It's Mai," she pointed with her forefinger to where Mai was standing. "She's there."

John was not concerned by the sight of Masako talking at the empty space. He was concerned about the implications of Mai only being visible to Masako as a medium.

"Masako, am I… dead?" Mai regretted her decision to jump into the light.

Masako could see Mai was panicking. She composed herself to calm her.

"You are not dead, Mai."

"But, I jumped into the light. Doesn't that mean I'm dead?"

"No, you aren't. I don't know about the light, but you are still alive," she reassured Mai.

"Mai-san, you are alive. Look at the monitor. Your heart is still beating. We are protecting you here, we've got you. Please, don't worry," John added to help out Masako in calming down Mai.

He pictured Mai in the place Masako had pointed and smiled at her.

Mai nodded, that was enough to console her and make her believe she wasn't dead. And it was true, the heart monitor still emitting an annoying sound.

Masako turned to John to relay Mai's reply that he was unable to hear.

"She said thank you."

"You're welcome, Mai-san."

"Mai, how did you get here?" Masako asked her.

"I don't know. I was being chased down by will-o'-the-wisps and they were about to attack, when this," Mai paused to show John's rosary. "Suddenly came out and I heard John pray for me. That caused them to retreat and I managed to escape from there."

"And about the light?"

Mai bit her lower lip. "While I was running away from them, I saw a light. I didn't think and just jumped."

Or rather, her animal instincts told her to jump.

"You are an idiot, Mai," now Masako was angry at her. "What if you flat-lined after you went into the light?"

Mai scratched her cheek guiltily. "I'm sorry, Masako. I miss you," she said, hoping it will soften Masako's anger.

And it did.

However, Masako had a lot of pride so she simply averted her eyes and hid her face with her sleeve.

"Hmmph!"

Mai grinned at her tsundere personality.

"Oh! I need you to tell Naru something for me," she said while she still had a chance to. Gene hadn't been in that vision and she didn't know when or if she would ever see him again.

Mai told her about the vision she'd had without leaving a single detail out. It wasn't the time to withhold information like she sometimes had. It didn't matter if it was irrelevant to the case.

"How do you know it was a curse?" Masako asked. "Pentagrams have a lot of meanings."

Mai nodded. "I know that. Lin told me that after the Cursed House case. But he was standing in front of an inverted pentagram."

Masako asked John about inverted pentagram and he froze up momentarily.

"Well, an inverted pentagram is usually used to summon a demon or curse someone. Did Mai-san have a vision about that?"

Masako nodded. "Mai, did you see Fujita-san being successful in his ritual?"

"I really don't know. Because the vision just stopped there. I think those will-o'-wisps were blocking it-"

Mai suddenly felt dizzy, tired, and sleepy at the same time like after Gene left her, but far more worse.

"Mai!" Masako exclaimed when saw Mai was swaying. It was could be her eyes playing tricks on her, but Mai looks more see through than before.

"Give John my gratitude for the rosary and the prayer," she whispered as softly as the wind. "Tell everyone I miss them."

"Mai!"

With that Mai was gone in the blink of an eye.

"I will call Kazuya-san and everyone to come here," John said after helping Masako who still staring at the empty space to sit down.

Masako could only nod and look down. She took off her prayer beads that had always been on her wrist and slid it to Mai's. That bracelet was given to her by her grandfather to protect her.

"Aren't those your prayer beads?" John asked when he came back.

"Yes. I hope it can protect her like your necklace."

John smiled and patted her back.

* * *

The three men took silent and long strides as they rushed to Mai's room. Takigawa opened the door without knocking and rushed inside, closely followed by Naru and Lin.

Takigawa was grateful for the heating in Mai's hospital room. The heating in the van hadn't worked on the way over because Naru had caused the temperature to drop to low figures with his PK.

Lin warned him to calm down or he wouldn't let him come inside and make Mai's room as cold as a fridge.

Of course, Naru did as he said.

Ayako was also present, sitting on Mai's right side whilst Masako was on her left. John was standing at the end of her bed, praying.

"What's wrong with Mai? Did her condition get worse? Does she need an operation now?" Takigawa asked frantically.

"Shut up, old man! This is a hospital and don't jinx it," Ayako scolded him.

Before Takigawa can retort, Yasuhara opened the door forcefully. His breath came and out quickly, it seemed like he'd run the whole way.

"Sorry, I'm late. The traffic was terrible, so I decided to run from the train station," he said and closed the door. "Is she okay?"

"Yes, for now," Ayako replied.

John finished his prayer and turned to give them his full attention.

"What's the problem, then?" Takigawa asked again.

Ayako glanced at Masako and nodded to reassure her.

"Not long ago I met Mai here," Masako started slowly. She looked at Naru who stiffened at the news.

"What? When?" Takigawa moved closer to Mai's bed.

Before Ayako could scold him again for being an idiot, Lin interjected first.

"Would you please calm down, Takigawa-san? And let Hara-san finish her story."

That was a long sentence by Lin's standards and it was enough to silence the bickering.

Masako continued her story about Mai's vision about Fujita's little sister, the curse, will-o'-the-wisps, John's necklace and prayer, then the light.

A collective sigh was audible.

"Not being too smart here, but doesn't the light she mentioned signify the afterlife?" Yasuhara asked from his position on the floor.

He had sat down on the floor because all the chairs in the room were occupied and he was too exhausted from his run to the hospital to stand.

"We believe so. Doctors often shout 'don't go into the light' in the operating theatre when the patient on the verge of flatlining. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't," Ayako replied.

"So, how is it possible?" John asked.

No one could answer that.

"Hara-san, did Mai have transparent figure?" Naru enquired.

He knew that spirits were always transparent, but he needed to be sure.

"Yes," she thought again after she gave her reply. "But…"

"What is it?" Naru probed. Every piece of information about Mai was important to him.

"I don't know if my eyes were wrong or because she was about to disappear but, before she was gone, she swayed a bit, like she was about faint. And then her figure became more see through or transparent as you've said."

Naru's eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms into a thinking position. To say he didn't like that piece of information was an understatement.

"What's your analysis, Naru-bou?" Takigawa asked after noticing Naru's eyes narrowing.

Naru looked at him and the others. "All of you can go home. We will discuss it tomorrow," he said with finality in his tone.

Yasuhara sprung up. "You can't do that, Boss. We know you have an idea what this is all about."

"I'm sure you are the person here that needs to rest the most. However, if you still have some energy left, feel free to do some more research," Naru said flatly.

"Naru, you can't just dismiss us like that. We want to know what is going to happen to her," Takigawa gave him a piece of his mind.

"Whatever. I'm staying to watch her," Ayako said petulantly.

"Go home, rest, and we will discuss it tomorrow. Including you Matsuzaki-san," Naru repeated his instructions again. "We aren't going to get anywhere with this whilst your minds aren't clear."

"Then who will watch her tonight?"

"I will," Naru answered. "Lin, bring my laptop here from the van."

Without any delay, Lin left the room to retrieve his laptop. It was no use to argue with Naru when he had that look in his eyes.

"What about school?" Takigawa tried again.

"If you are keeping track of the days you will know that tomorrow is Sunday."

John stepped in to stop them from protesting further.

"Guys, Kazuya-san is right. We need rest. I'll be honest, I'm very tired and Masako-san is way more exhausted than she looks, right?" he stared at Masako meaningfully.

"Yes, I don't mind taking a break for the night. Mai said she already felt bad seeing me tired. I wonder how she would feel if she saw all of us collapse because of her," she lied to them.

Yasuhara gave up. He took off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose.

"She would scold us whilst kicking our butts," he snorted.

That mental image was enough to make them chuckle.

"Fine! But let me get my stuff to make a charm for her," Ayako got off her chair and went to her office.

Takigawa was rummaging in the pockets of his jeans to find his prayer beads. It was longer than Masako's so he had to wind it three times around Mai's other wrist and he prayed for her after that.

Ayako came back with her paper, an ink container and a brush. She wrote the charm on the hospital dining table. Takigawa stopped her after she made three charms.

"Enough. Mai will suffocate under the weight of your charms."

"The more, the better," Ayako insisted.

Lin came back with Naru's laptop bag and gave it to him. After that he asked Ayako's permission to use her ink and brush.

Everyone was curious what he was going to do with them. Lin gently pushed back Mai's bangs and wrote a Chinese character on her forehead. He whispered a spell onto it and it glowed before settling back to normal.

It was a different character from the one he'd placed on Naru before when he was possessed. That made them question him.

"Is that also for Mai-san's protection, Lin-san?" John asked kindly.

"Yes."

After they were done with their attempts to protect Mai, they slowly left the room one by one, each one reluctant to leave.

"What's your theory?" Lin asked, finally able to ask Naru without the others listening in.

Naru walked up to John's spot from before. He leaned on the end of the bed.

He finally looked up to face Mai. Minutes felt like hours before he answered Lin's question. He knew Lin would stand there all night waiting for an answer if he had to.

"I hope my theory is wrong."

It was the first time he wasn't confident in his own judgement.

"I think she is straining her ability to keep on living."

"What do you mean exactly?" Lin asked.

"She is essentially, an Astral Walker. The will-o'-the-wisps are there to take her soul, but haven't succeeded yet. Why? Taking a soul from someone wandering around the astral plane shouldn't be hard, especially as she is untrained. That's why she needs Gene to guide her," Naru explained. "Gene did tell me that an Astral Walker has special privilege on the astral plane. They can travel to any place and time they desire."

Lin continued his theory for him.

"So, you think Taniyama-san is unconsciously using her ability as an Astral Walker to hide from the will-o'-the-wisps on the astral plane?"

"Yes."

"She isn't just hiding from them, she's been travelling to the past as well. That's why I think she is straining her abilities."

"That must be exhausting her. Hara-san did mention that she looked fainter…"

Naru clenched the end of her bed harder. This was why he didn't want to discuss his theory with anyone.

"This is why I can't just sit around and be quiet," he whispered through his clenched teeth.

The Chinese man was worried that Naru would lose his sanity sooner rather than later.

"Naru, why don't you go home? I will watch Taniyama-san for the night," Lin offered.

Naru shook his head. "I need to be here."

Lin found it to be one of those rare moments where Naru showed his true feelings.

"I will order dinner for you. No more complaining, you need to eat to maintain your stamina. You know you do," Lin added before his charge could refuse him.

Naru sighed. "Fine."

"Good night, Naru."

"Hn."

* * *

Because there wasn't any more research he could do and the report was being handled by Lin who had now left, he decided to resume working on his new book.

Every thirty seconds he would glance at Mai for a brief moment, without stopping his fingers on the keys. He put his laptop away after giving up on trying to focus on his draft.

Naru paused as he was about to hold Mai's hand. Her hand felt colder than normal, although the heater was on. He could just ask a nurse for more blankets or turn the heater higher, but, he wasn't willing to leave his spot.

Eventually, he put his thick coat on top of her. At least it could keep her warm enough.

He took Mai's hand again.

"Hurry up and wake up, idiot."

* * *

Naru opened his eyes to find he was surrounded by darkness. He looked down at himself and realised he was glowing.

Was he on the astral plane or in a dream?

He stood up and looked around. He didn't know how he could be on the astral plane if that was where he really was.

A sob stole his attention. He could recognize that sob anywhere.

"Mai?" he called out her name, but the only answer was another sob.

He followed those sobs, being careful with his steps. He knew the concept of the astral plane, but he had never been on it himself.

"Mai. If you hear me, then answer me."

He could still bark orders in a place he was unfamiliar with.

"Now I'm hearing his voice," Mai said and started crying.

A glow came into Naru's view. It was a girl curled up with her face hidden.

She was crying.

Naru hated her being hurt.

"Mai," he whispered.

Mai knew she was just imagining things. But one look wouldn't hurt, she knew Naru wasn't really there.

She blinked several times. She wished that her eyes were playing tricks on her, but at the same time she wanted what she was seeing to be real.

She slowly stood up, her eyes not leaving his face for even a millisecond.

"Naru," she called his name softly. Her eyes became teary again.

Naru hated seeing those tears.

"NARU!"

She ran over to him.

Ran to her only salvation.


	17. Chapter 16 (New Author)

**NIGHTMARE SCHOOL:**

 **CHAPTER 16:**

After Mai's encounter with Masako and John, she fell unconscious and woke up sometime later feeling very dizzy.

It took a lot of effort to open her eyes. She had never had such trouble before. Her body felt sluggish. She wondered what happened to her.

Mai turned her body so she was lying on her back. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and when she opened her eyes again, the scene in front of her had changed.

She was walking alone in desolate school hallway, or perhaps it was more accurate to say that it was too early for students to be around. She looked down to find she was no longer wearing her school uniform. Instead she was wearing a white shirt and red tartan trousers. The outfit looked familiar.

When she turned to look out the window, she realised she was actually Fujita Naoki. It didn't take long for his mind to sync with hers. She was able to experience his feelings and hear his thoughts.

She could feel his insecurity, fear, sadness, and hopelessness. He was ostracized by his classmates, friends, and teachers. Even his parents were disappointed in him.

He was his parents' pride.

Her little sister tried to cheer him up, but it wasn't enough for him.

Every day he was drowning in those feelings.

Hatred, anger, and pain.

He was going crazy with the feelings.

As he thought about those feelings, he made his way up to the rooftop. Only a few people had the key and he was one of those. It was one of the advantages of being a model student which was what he had been until now.

He approached the edge of the roof and leaned on the guardrail. Fujita watched as students began to fill up the school grounds. When Itou showed up, he climbed over the guardrail and onto the ledge of the roof, keeping his eyes on Itou.

It didn't take long for someone to notice him and soon the students below were screaming. Itou looked up and his eyes widened when he realised who was standing on the edge. Itou couldn't see his face clearly because of the sun, but he would recognise that figure anywhere.

Mai could feel how numb Fujita was on the inside. He had lost the willpower to continue his life anymore.

Mai frantically tried to get out the vision once she realised what was about to happen, but she couldn't. She didn't how to do it. It was usually Gene who pulled her out before something bad could happen to her.

He let himself fall without thinking twice.

He didn't listen to those voice trying to dissuade him.

The sky was so blue.

The world seemed so silent, so peaceful as he fell through the air.

Mai wanted to scream, but it wasn't her body. She had no control of it.

The screams from below swelled to a crescendo as his body crashed onto the ground.

He was finally free.

* * *

The scene faded out and became the darkness of the astral plane again. She sat up and checked to see if she had any wounds from the jump off the roof.

She breathed out in relief. She still could feel the sensation of falling through the air and when she hit the ground.

Mai couldn't hold back a sob.

She thought she was really going to die.

Usually, everyone would hug and comfort her after her nightmare. But now she was all alone, not even Gene was there.

She couldn't help but the Bloodstained Labyrinth case and wondered if Naru would make her a cup of tea again.

"Mai. If you can hear me, then answer me."

Mai knew that voice. It was the same voice as Gene's, but much colder and deeper.

"Now I'm hearing his voice," Mai said and started crying.

"Mai."

Mai knew she was just imagining things. But one look wouldn't hurt, she knew Naru wasn't really there.

She blinked several times. She wished that her eyes were playing tricks on her, but at the same time she wanted what she was seeing to be real.

She slowly stood up, her eyes not leaving his face for even a millisecond.

"Naru," she called his name softly. Her eyes became teary again. "NARU!"

She ran up to him like her life depended on it.

Mai literally lunged and jumped towards Naru, circling her arms around his waist. Usually, she would feel embarrassed at her braveness to hug him, but now she really needed some comfort.

Naru was shocked at the sudden contact and didn't know what to do. But when he heard Mai crying on his chest, his arms moved to encircle her before his mind realised what he was doing.

If that would stop Mai from crying, he was willing to hold her forever.

Normally Naru would have panicked if that thought passed through his mind, but right now, he didn't care.

He tried his best to hug her in a way that would absorb all her pain. Comforting people wasn't his strong suit so this was the best he could do.

"School… and then… I can't… from the roof… scared…" Mai hiccupped in between her story.

He was a genius; however decoding baby talk was not his area.

"Mai, I need you to calm down. I can't understand what you're saying if you keep crying like that," Naru chided her gently.

"How can I calm down when you are hugging me like this? It's making me want to cry more."

Naru took that the wrong way and jumped the conclusion that Mai hated being hugged by him.

"Fine. Just for your information, you hugged me first," he reminded her whilst letting go of her.

"No!" she tightened her arms around him. "Don't let go yet," she cried.

She wasn't ready to let go of him.

Naru sighed. "I will never understand you. One second you hate being hugged, the next second you won't let go."

He just let Mai hug him without hugging her back.

"Who says I hate being hugged?" she looked up and her breath stuck in her throat as she realised that their faces were very close together.

Naru wondered how big Mai's already wide eyes could go.

"You said me hugging you only makes you want to cry more."

"What? No! You're wrong. I mean…" she broke off and couldn't form what she wanted to say.

Naru arched his brow. "You mean what?"

"I-I mean I just had a vision about Fujita-san," she looked down again.

His dark blue eyes were piercing into her.

"It was… horrible. And… um… when I was back here I… felt so lonely and scared. No one was here, I don't know where Gene is," she sniffed and chuckled a bit. "I kind of miss your after-nightmare tea."

Naru didn't say anything and pulled Mai into his embrace. And Mai didn't waste her chance and settled her head on his chest again.

They lost track of time and at some point, they ended up sitting next to each other. So close that Mai almost couldn't contain her happiness.

"Mai, what did you see in your vision? Gene and Masako have told me about your two other visions."

Wonderful, he was back to scientist mode.

Mai licked her lips nervously before telling him. She told him everything that had happened on the day Fujita committed suicide.

"I was scared that I had a feeling to kill myself. I know it was Fujita's feelings, but, I can't help it," Mai finished her story and started crying again.

Naru didn't know how to comfort her. Not even a clue. He racked his brain, trying to remember how the others had comforted her in the past.

Unsure of what he was doing, Naru reached out hesitantly and patted her head. Naru knew her hair was soft, he knew it very well. He wanted his hand stay longer, but he retreated it cautiously.

"It's not unusual to synchronise your mind and feelings with someone when you have a vision. Just remember it wasn't you and it was in the past."

"But it feels terrible. I don't want to kill myself. I want to live." Mai wanted to say, 'I want to be by your side' instead.

But, she couldn't.

"Then live."

"Does your psychometry make you see terrible things too?"

"Yes. But, it isn't like your visions. I have to synchronise with someone to see the past, while you can see it without it," Naru replied.

"You mean that you're similar to me in a way?"

Naru nodded.

Mai had already known about Naru's abilities and that they made him feel exhausted after using them yet he still endangered his life by using them. Mai always felt sad whenever she remembered Naru's collapse. But…

Did that mean she had something in common with Naru?

If she were on the living plane, her face would be as red as an apple. However, she couldn't hide the smile creeping up her face.

Naru smirked. "You are doing it again."

Mai turned to him. "Doing what?"

"Bouncing back," he said simply.

He had always admired that particular trait of hers. Not that he would ever say it.

Mai smiled.

Naru knew her too well. He had always paid attention to her.

"Mai, did you sign the contract from Ariade-san?"

"What contract?"

Mai was confused by Naru's question.

"You didn't know about the contract?" he frowned.

Mai shook her head.

"When did you realise that some of the students had gone missing?"

"The first time I went into homeroom, I felt something was wrong. Especially with atmosphere in the room. When I met Ariade-sensei, I had also felt he wasn't someone you could trust," Mai told him.

Naru had always appreciated Mai's instincts being right on cases. They were usually right and this time was no exception.

"During one lunch break I heard my classmates bitching about a boy. His name was Hisakawa Momiji. They were much nastier the next day; they were bullying him. They ruined all of his books, wrote 'man-whore' on his desk in permanent marker, broke his chair, and other things," she continued with anger in her voice.

"Is he someone who slept around?"

"Honestly, I don't know. What they were doing was mean. I tried to help him and scolded them, but after that day he never came to school again. Then my classmates started to bully me because I helped Hisakawa-san and for other random reasons that made no sense to me."

Naru could relate that. He'd heard the petty reasons for bullying Mai from the other students.

"What methods did they use to bully you?"

"Almost the same as Hisakawa-san."

Mai's face contorted with disgust.

"Tell me everything."

"One time I accidentally heard Ariade-san say to the class they were doing a good job by the way they took care of me which I found weird because they were bullying me! They were following me everywhere during school hours," Mai sighed. "So, I got suspicious and started investigating myself. In my year, there are supposed to be 256 students in total. However, why there are only 238 student records?"

"How did you get the access to the student records?" Naru raised one eyebrow. Mai was beginning to take after him.

Mai smirked with mischievous eyes. "I learn from the best."

"I see you are climbing up from the land of idiocy to criminal one," Naru said.

"Thanks to someone who blackmailed me with an extortionately priced German camera," she retorted and stuck out her tongue.

Naru cringed inside at the memory.

"Then you concluded that the 18 student records had gone missing? There is no chance that that many students decided to move in the same year."

Mai nodded. "I didn't find Hisakawa Momiji's student record either. I thought that maybe he really was sick or moved to another school. I asked the principal, teachers and students from another class, but they couldn't remember a student named Hisakawa Momiji."

"How did you get those missing student's records?"

Mai grinned sheepishly. "I stole them from Ariade-sensei's desk. He made me come to the office after school to reprimand me about my grades and when he opened the drawer, I caught a glimpse of a red folder that looked like my student record and I stole them the next day after school."

"Where are the rest? You only have eight."

"I don't know. Maybe at his home?"

"Possibly," Naru mumbled thoughtfully.

"I started to think that Ariade-sensei was the cause of the missing students and somehow made people in school forget about them. I knew it had to be something paranormal because of that."

"He is possessed," Naru stated bluntly.

"Really? Do you know who is possessing him?"

"Fujita Naoki."

"You mean the boy who committed suicide in my vision?"

"Is there any other Fujita Naoki you know that's not him?" Naru asked sarcastically.

"Why is he possessing Ariade-sensei?" she ignored his insult because she was happy he was with her.

Naru sighed. "You've seen firsthand what he went through. He wants revenge and he doesn't care that they weren't the ones who bullied him."

Mai looked down at her hands. "That's awful. Sometimes I wonder why people bully someone."

Naru snorted. "Because idiots can be found anywhere."

Mai rolled her eyes.

"I thought he was using a spell on people at school to control them."

"Did Gene tell you that?"

It would be strange if he had because Gene had never mentioned that to him.

"No. I saw him do the spell," she said innocently.

"You saw what?" Naru almost seethed at that.

Mai shrank a bit. "Sorry."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? Or at least, for God's sake, you can tell Gene. I am sure I've warned you before about withholding information."

The death-glare he gave her was frightening.

"I'm sorry! I was sure you wouldn't believe me without any physical evidence. That's why I tried to find some actual proof so you would agree to take on the case."

That was true. He usually wouldn't take on a case that didn't interest him or didn't have evidence of paranormal activity.

It was also true that he did trust Mai's instincts, but was unwilling to completely believe her until he saw some evidence to confirm her suggestions.

"Is that what you wanted to talk to Lin about?"

That had been bothering him.

"Yes. On the day I was attacked, I managed to record Ariade-sensei performing a spell with my phone. I decided to consult Lin before going to you."

"Then consult with me. I'm the boss, I'm the one who decides whether to take on a case or not."

"Damn narcissist," Mai scoffed at him.

"Understood?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"It's Your Majesty," he corrected her.

"Why you-!"

Her fiery personality was back.

After that they were silent, but it was not uncomfortably awkward.

Mai looked up at Naru tenderly. Just having him with her was enough to make her feel safe and heart beat faster.

She timidly leant her head on Naru's shoulder. He stiffened a bit, but shortly relaxed. After ten seconds passed without a single complaint from Naru, she was sure he didn't mind.

"Hey, Naru," she whispered softly.

"Hm?"

"Do you think… all the missing students are already dead?"

"Most likely," he answered honestly.

"Am I going to…?"

"No, you won't. Not under my watch," he cut her with a firm tone. "You will wake up after we solve this case."

"But what if I don't…?"

Naru cut her off again.

"Then I will wake you up."

"But how?"

"I'm not a genius for nothing," he said smugly, giving Mai his confidence-filled smirk.

Mai snorted but smiling after that. "You better do that."

"Promise me something, Mai," he turned to Mai so he could see her eyes.

"What kind of promise?"

"Promise me you will not push yourself too hard whilst you are here."

Mai couldn't understand what he meant, but his eyes were so serious, intense and worried at the same time.

Mai smiled and nodded. "Okay."

"Good. I hope for once you will do as I've said."

Mai clicked her tongue and looked away.

"Naru?" Mai asked shyly.

"What is it?"

"When this is all over… will you have dinner with me?"


	18. Chapter 17 (New Author)

**NIIGHTMARE SCHOOL:**

 **CHAPTER 17:**

A female nurse walked into Mai's room the next morning at half seven with a clipboard under her arm. She had been assigned by Ayako to look after Mai whilst the redhead was taking a break. The nurse smiled when she saw that a young man was asleep on the chair next to Mai's bed and that their hands were interlinked.

Naru had always been a light sleeper since he was a child and woke up when the nurse closed the door behind her. He opened his eyes to check if Mai was still in the same state and then he sat up to look around.

"Good morning. Sorry to wake you up," the nurse apologised with a sincere expression and walked over to Mai's bed. "It's a morning check for Taniyama-san."

Naru nodded. He went to rub his eyes, unaware at first that Mai's hand was still in his grasp. He looked down at their hands with a feeling of uncertainty- he didn't want to let go. But in the end, he had to because she needed to be examined.

"Why don't you go to the canteen on the ground floor and have some breakfast? Because I need to bathe Taniyama-san," the nurse suggested to Naru as she was checking on Mai's IV drip. "The food here is excellent."

Once again Naru nodded instead of replying. The nurse had lots of experience with quiet and uncooperative patients and their families so she didn't take his attitude to heart.

The black-haired man opened the door to leave. He paused and turned back to speak to the nurse. He remembered that Mai was covered in charms, a bracelet and a rosary that the nurse would probably remove.

"Don't remove any of those accessories from her or erase the ink on her forehead," he said with a composed tone and impassive face. "Please."

The nurse could detect the underlying concern in his voice. She smiled understandingly.

"Okay, no problem."

Naru bowed a little.

"Thank you."

Then he left the room with his laptop bag. The nurse noticed something black lying on top of the patient and called after him.

"Your jacket-"

But Naru had already gone. He went to the toilets to wash his face and progressed to the hospital canteen.

As he ate his breakfast which was surprisingly good for hospital food he contemplated his first ever time on the astral plane and Mai's information about Ariade.

Why was Mai trapped there if she had never signed the contract? Why were the will-o'-the-wisps pursuing her? Were they under someone's control…?

Naru had never wanted to hit his head so badly when he had that revelation.

How had Fujita done it? Was it a spell? A cruse?

Lin would probably know the answer.

Peeved, he lifted his cup of tea to his mouth and cringed when his tongue tasted the warm brown liquid. He put down the cup and his gaze fell onto his pale hand with slender fingers.

When he had released Mai's hand back then, he felt as if he had lost something. It didn't match with his no skinship nature. To add to that, he had also held Mai's hand all night on the astral plane.

It felt right.

It was first time since Gene passed away, he had felt...

Whole.

Naru turned his hand over and looked at his palm, scolding himself for being sentimental so early in the morning. He needed to concentrate on the case, not on observing his feelings for Mai. That girl loved his brother Gene.

Not him.

'When this is all over… will you have dinner with me?'

That questioned echoed in his brain; the last thing he remembered before something had pulled him from Mai and he'd woken up. He was still taken aback by her question.

Would he have dinner with her?

He immediately wiped out that thought before he could genuinely mull over the offer. Although his mind blocked it out, his heart had already made a decision. The question was, why Mai did want to have dinner with him?

He left the canteen and thought of the phone Mai had used to record Ariade in action. He pulled his phone from his trouser pocket to call Ayako. He could just go to the reception desk and ask, but he knew only the family or next kin could collect a patient's belongings.

"Naru? What's wrong? Is Mai okay? Did something happen to her?" Ayako gave him a chain of questions instead of hello.

"Stop yelling like a mad woman in my ear," Naru shot back with an obviously annoyed tone.

"Geez, you are starting to speak like that apostate Monk." Ayako wasn't a morning person and her mood was as bleak as Naru's shirt colour. "How is she?"

Naru sighed. "She is fine."

"Then why are you calling me?" Ayako asked in confusion.

"I want to ask you something. Did you have Mai's things from when she was brought to the hospital?"

"What kind of things?" she inquired curiously.

"A cellphone."

There was a pause before Ayako answered indicating that she was having problems remembering.

"I don't know. She was empty-handed back then, but later on her friends delivered her schoolbag when they visited her."

"Do you have it now?" Naru was quick to reply.

"Yeah, I have it here," Ayako said and he could hear her moving around. "Is her phone related to this case?"

"Maybe. Search for it in her bag," he commanded Ayako.

Ayako snorted as she picked up the box that contained the contents of Mai's schoolbag and what she had been wearing. To be honest, there wasn't much there, only her old house key as a necklace, a silver ring, a deep-brown backpack and a torn uniform inside the plastic bag. She hadn't thrown it away because she wanted to be able to give it all back to Mai when she woke up.

She opened Mai's bag and placed the contents on her bed, hunting for anything that remotely looked like a phone.

"There is no phone, Naru. I only have her keys, schoolbooks, stationary, her PE kit and girl's things."

Naru cursed in his head. Ariade must have confiscated her phone when she was attacked. He ran an irritated hand through his hair.

"...ru. Naru!" Ayako shouted as her boss hadn't answered her.

"I heard you, Matsuzaki-san," his tone was clip. "I believe you have Mai's old house key."

"Yes, I do."

"Bring it to the office before you go to the hospital. I'll be there in an hour."

Without wasting his time, he disconnected the phone call.

Ayako stared at her phone, fuming because that narcissist didn't even bother to say goodbye or a thank you. He was such a slave driver. Sometimes she wonders how Mai puts up with him.

Or worse.

Fall in love with him.

* * *

After that phone conversation he contacted Lin to ask him to pick him up. During the wait, he went back to Mai's room to check on her for one last time. He stood next to her bed, slipping some hair behind her ear. His hand had moved on its own.

He stayed still in his place staring at her. She had always been a skinny girl and now her bones were protruding here and there. Naru winced when he felt the pain in his chest.

The feeling that had something slashed his heart.

Lin arrived and drove him to their apartment. On the way had asked about Mai's condition and stayed silent for the rest of the trip.

Naru took a shower once they had arrived and changed his clothes. Half an hour later they were at the SPR office. Ayako then arrived to give him Mai's key. He needed it because it was the object she had the most attachment to.

"Tell me what Mai's phone has to do with this case," Ayako demanded after pushing her way into Naru's personal office.

Naru glanced at her before he moved his attention back to his laptop.

"Takigawa-san will give you the details after the meeting."

"What if I choose to stay and join the meeting?" she said scathingly. Her weariness had got the better of her.

"That's up to you, Matsuzaki-san. However, no one be at the hospital to watch over Mai properly," Naru pointed out.

Ayako clenched her first. "Fine. You had better get that monk to call me straight after the meeting. If not, you two will pay," she warned.

Then she walked out complaining under her breath. Naru rolled his eyes and continued with his mental calculations. He needed to put the puzzle pieces of the case together to build a complete picture.

The meeting was due to start at eleven in the morning so it would be helpful if he put everything together before then.

At the arranged time, he opened his office door and went to start the meeting.

Everyone except Ayako and Masako were gathered around the sofas. Takigawa was wearing his rarely seen round framed glasses.

"Ah, boss! You finally came out from your cave," Yasuhara was the first to greet him.

"Why can't you work like this on other cases?" he asked sarcastically. "That would be wonderful."

"I'm always a wonderful researcher, boss," Yasu said with a gleam of confidence. "For example, this morning I managed to get more information from Itou-san's sister."

"You mean the girl in Mai's vision?" John asked.

Yasuhara nodded.

"I hope you didn't use some illegal methods," Takigawa deadpanned.

"What? Do you that I - a mere college student – would break the law?" Yasuhara asked with dramatic gasp. "I thought you loved me enough to trust me, Bou-san."

Takigawa shivered. "I would rather climb Mt. Koya with bare legs than love you."

Naru sat in his armchair with his notebook. "Are you are done with your child's play? We have a case to solve."

"Ah. Kazuya-san, Masako-san can't come because of her fatigue from yesterday. But she wants to join the meeting via video," John informed him and took his cellphone to contact the medium.

The young scientist nodded in acknowledgement. Masako could have a few useful suggestions and she still hadn't given him a full report.

As they were waiting for Masako to pick up the phone, Lin walked into the seating area with a tray of teacups. He put it down on the remaining vacant area of the table that was covered in case notes.

"Hello," Masako greeted once she had picked up her phone.

"Good afternoon, Masako-san. The meeting is about to start. Are you feeling better now?" John asked kindly.

"Yes, thank you, John," she answered with a visible smile.

"Hara-san, can you give me your report?" Naru sipped his tea slowly, it was better than the tea he had drunk in the hospital canteen.

"Yes, I will keep it short. There weren't any spirits in any of the houses John and I visited. There were only remnant feelings of the victims, especially in their rooms. The feelings of sadness, fear, hopelessness and… betrayal were stifling. The third family was the worst; those feelings were lingering all around the house. It was so bad that it was actually affecting the family living there."

Naru frowned. "How could you feel it if there weren't any spirits there?"

He knew Masako's capabilities. She didn't usually make mistakes.

"I don't know. I thought it was only me who felt it, but John said he felt it as well."

Naru shifted his attention to John, silently asking for his confirmation.

"Yes, I felt it too. Not as severely as Masako-san though. I couldn't identify the feelings, I could only feel the heavy atmosphere. You would understand if you entered the house," John explained.

"I am sure that the spirits haven't properly moved on considering that the feelings left behind are so strong," Masako gave her opinion.

"If they haven't moved on, then where are they?" Takigawa asked in exasperation. "There weren't any spirits in the school or their houses, except the one who has possessed fucking Ariade."

"I assume the parents remember their children." Naru ignored Takigawa's whining.

John nodded. "Yes, they remember them. Some of the school teachers and their friends even visited them when they heard about their disappearances."

"Wait a minute. How could they visit the families if they have no recollection of the missing students?" Takigawa extended his hand to stop John.

"That fact also had us confused. We couldn't ask for more without being suspicious," Masako said.

"There's more. The only friends that came to visit their families were ones that weren't in their homeroom classes," John continued on.

"None of their homeroom classmates came?" Yasu chipped in with a perplexed look. "Weird."

John nodded. "One of the more observant mothers noticed it."

"Was Ariade-san one of the school teachers that visited the families?" Naru inquired whilst Lin was typing at top speed to take note of all the new information.

"Yes, but the families said it was an ordinary visit with the principal to convey their concern about the missing students." John had obtained that from a mother that was eager to talk.

"The more information we have, the more mysteries we end up with." Takigawa took off his glasses and massaged his temples in frustration. "Why don't we beat Ariade up and make him confess?"

Everyone in the room was almost tempted by Takigawa's suggestion, except the priest.

They were silent for a while and the only sounds were Lin typing and Naru scribbling notes. They were all wracking their brains for the answer to the new piece of the puzzle.

"What information did you get, Yasuhara?" Naru decided to put the new puzzle on the back burner for the moment and move on.

Yasuhara wiped his glasses clean and smirked as he put them on again.

"Ready for some mind-blowing information?"


	19. Chapter 18 (New Author)

**NIGHTMARE SCHOOL:**

 **CHAPTER 18:**

"I will start with Itou Kagami. As you know, I visited him yesterday. When I mentioned Fujita Naoki's name, he was ready to slam the door on me and ruin my lovely face," he snorted.

"Yasuhara…" Naru said warningly.

Yasuhara didn't heed his warning.

"I then told him that Fujita-san's still lingering on this plane. I know that I shouldn't give out information about cases, but it was the only thing I could say to get his attention."

He looked over at Naru who glared at him before continuing on.

"They met at the entrance ceremony and immediately became friends although their personalities were very different. Fujita-san was a model student whilst Itou-san was a troublemaker. The teacher warned Fujita-san to stay away from Itou because he was seen as a bad influence. Fujita disregarded the warning and continued being his friend."

"He told me that Fujita was a victim of bullying and was ostracised by everyone. When I asked Itou why, his face went pale. It was because people found out that Fuijita-san was gay."

Takigawa frowned "Just for that? They bullied him because he was gay?"

"We are in Japan, Takigawa-san. Acceptance of same-sex relationships is low. People can't seem to accept it because they see it as a disgrace to their community," Naru explained although he had only lived in Japan for two years. "You're Japanese; you should know this better than me."

"I know, but was it necessary to bully him to the point he committed suicide? No wonder he can't rest in peace," Takigawa mumbled under his breath.

"How did the students know that he was gay?" John enquired.

Yasuhara took a deep breath. "He said a teacher caught Fujita-san making out with Itou-san in a classroom."

All of them gasped at that except the stoic duo.

Once again, Mai's dream had proved to more than an ordinary dream. It was a good lead. Not that Naru had ever doubted her. He had just needed solid evidence.

"The incident could have been kept a secret between them and the teacher with only a minor punishment. But that teacher had a grudge against homosexuals and Fujita-san's partner). So, the teacher reported it to the principal and their parents were called to the school. One of the students overheard the conversation in the principal's office and passed it onto everyone else. After that, they bullied Fujita-san."

"What about Itou-san? Did he get bullied as well?"

"When the details of the incident were passed around, Itou-san created a false story to cover up the truth. He claimed that Fujita-san had blackmailed him into dating him. The class took pity on Itou-san and were furious with Fujita-san. After that they bullied him because he was gay and they believed that he had blackmailed Itou-san. Fujita tried to explain, but no one would listen to him because Itou-san was more popular and so they believed him over Fujita."

"That was despicably cruel," Masako whispered.

"Man, Itou-san was a twisted person. Did he lie because he didn't want to reveal he was gay?" Takigawa asked as his fixed hair into a neater ponytail.

"Actually, he is bisexual," Yasuhara explained. "He didn't tell the truth so he could save his reputation."

"What reputation?" Naru asked a question for the first time since Yasuhara had started his explanation.

"He had a reputation as the popular boy at that high school. He was considered to be a playboy and the girls loved it. He was also famous with the male population because he was very good at sports. All in all, he was like their celebrity, but he was hated by the teachers. He had realised he was bisexual since middle school, however he had never made a move on a boy. He had developed a crush on Fujita-san from their first meeting. When Fujita-san showed interest in him, he didn't hesitate to act on it. Itou-san knew how badly society treats gays and bisexuals so he denied everything and lied just to keep his reputation."

"Slander is a serious crime, indeed," John grimaced at the story.

"Did he just watch his friend get bullied knowing that it was all because of his lie?" Masako asked.

"He did," Yasuhara confirmed. "He said that he wanted to fix it every time he saw it. He deeply regrets it, you know. He has had a nightmare every night since Fujita-san committed suicide."

"Honestly, I don't feel bad for him at all," Takigawa exhaled deeply. "Are his nightmare related to what's going on at Jou-chan's school?"

"Obviously not. Yasuhara said he's had those nightmares ever since the suicide when he was in high school," Naru explaining scathingly without looking up from making notes.

"Then the nightmares are probably because he feels deep remorse. It's not anything connected to the paranormal, what do you think, Naru-bou?"

Naru nodded. "That's correct."

"Now we know about that, let's move onto Fujita-san's family," Yasuhara pushed his glasses back up his nose and turned the page in his notebook.

"After dealing with Itou, I visited Fujita-san's father. His wife passed away eight months after Naoki Fujita mainly due to grief and stress. He said that he and his wife regretted how they dealt with the incident with Itou. They were unable to accept that they had a homosexual and tried to pretend nothing ever happened. They ignored his presence and he became a recluse. They noticed this but chose to do nothing about it. After his suicide, they regretted their actions."

"How about his sister? Mai said she had no problem with her brother being gay," Masako interrupted Yasuhara.

"That's right. His sister, Kyoko-san, had tried to comfort him and cheer him up. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough for Naoki-san who had been bullied at school, betrayed by his best friend and ignored by his parents. It was all eating him alive and he wanted revenge. Kyoko-san did say something about seeing her brother doing a ritual. I looked in his room which hasn't been touched since his death and found some books hidden behind school textbooks about curses and demons," Yasuhara added.

"Did you note down the titles?" Naru asked curiously.

Yasuhara flipped the page in his notebook. "Ah. The titles are; Black Magic Curses, How to Summon a Demon, Sacrifices for Lucifer, Death for your enemies and more similarly titled ones," he paused to tear out the next four pages to give to Naru.

"He was serious about revenge at the time and still is," Naru mumbled after reading the long list and handing it to Lin. "What do you think about these books, Lin?"

Lin skimmed the titles quickly. "Two out of the thirty books are quite genuine, but the rest are bogus. Those two books are more about giving facts about curses than describing how to carry out the curses."

"Only two books out of thirty? Let me see," Takigawa grabbed the paper from the omnouji. Not that he knew much about magic.

Lin was the omnouji in their group so, he knew curses better than the others. He sighed at the loss of the list and started to type out the titles he had memorised.

"Lin-san, do you think Fujita-san had supernatural abilities when he was still alive?" John asked whilst Takigawa frowned over the list.

"I think he did," Lin answered.

"That's was why he was able to possess Ariade-san who was a medium. He also should have had enough power to create a curse," John theorised.

All eyes turned to Naru.

"But there isn't proof that he has performed a curse," Takigawa stated. "There was nothing on that contract that Naru-bou signed."

"Actually, there is proof," Naru said smugly.

"Where?" they shouted together.

"There is a video on Mai's phone showing Ariade-san performing a curse at school. However," he cut them off before they could flood him with questions. "The phone is gone. I'm sure Ariade-san took it from her whilst she was unconscious. That's probably why he attacked her."

"How did you know that?" Masako asked after a moment of silence.

"Gene gave me Mai's message last night," he lied convincingly. Lin wasn't fooled and narrowed his eyes.

"Why Jou-chan didn't tell us from the start?"

"You know how Mai's brain works," he replied nonchalantly. "Now, about the sister, Yasuhara."

"Yes, right," Yasuhara picked up a separate notebook. "Kyoko-san told me that Naoki-san had been different since the scandal. He became a recluse and prone to bouts of anger. Kyoko-san tried to ask him about the ritual she saw him do and he shouted at her to say out of his business. She heard him do the ritual every day for months. Sometimes she could hear parts of it and said it was occasionally about school and former friends. She snooped around his room to see if she could work out what was going on and didn't find anything and was too scared by his new personality to try it again. Damn, I'm thirsty."

Yasuhara stopped and sipped his tea to relieve his dry throat.

"So, what are we going to do, Kazuya-san?" the blond priest looked at Naru worriedly.

"Wait," Takigawa interjected again. "Did you forget that Naru-bou has something to tell us?"

Their attention moved back to the dark haired young man. Lin shot Naru a look that indicated 'good luck trying to avoid them.'

"I don't need to tell you because it's not been proven yet and isn't relevant to the case," he said calmly and closed his notebook.

Takigawa was pissed off. "Everything about Mai is relevant."

"I think we are done here. I'll assign you tasks through Lin tomorrow morning," Naru stood up from his seat and returned to his office, leaving the members dumbfounded.

* * *

"Why does Mai remember Hisakawa-san when none of the other students do?" Naru mused as Lin walked into his office to scold him about his attitude.

"Do you mean Hisakawa Momiji-san?" Lin remembered his name from the records that Mai had in her possession.

"Yes. Why can Mai remember all of the victims whilst everyone else at the school has forgotten them? Why did the teachers and students visit the missing students' houses when they didn't remember them?"

Lin put the matter of wanting to scold Naru aside and thought about what the answer could be.

"I see," he muttered after thinking of something.

"What is it?"

"Do you remember that Mai was possessed twice on that case that took us a month to solve?"

"I think I remember that one better than you," he replied impatiently. How could he forget how much Mai had suffered on that case?

Lin didn't bother to argue with him. There wasn't time for it.

"After that case, I put a protection spell on her old house key and reminded her not to lose it."

"Thus, you are saying that it still works and protected her from the spell before she was attacked?" Naru wondered why Lin had never told him about it before.

"I believe so. I will be more certain if I have the key to inspect it myself."

Naru wasn't sure and rubbed the key which was in his pocket, making sure not to drop himself into a psychometric vision.

"You mean this?" he said and showed the key to Lin.

"How can you have it?" The Chinese man was surprised although there were no signs of surprise on his face.

"Matsuzaki-san has Mai's belongings from when she was found and her school bag."

"You intend to use your psychometry."

It wasn't a question.

"Just inspect it," Naru ordered and threw the key to Lin who automatically caught it. He ignored Lin's mutinous glance.

The omnouji closed his hand over the key in his palm and then his eyes, whispering an incantation to reveal the spell he had cast on it. After a minute or two, he opened his eyes.

"Yes, it's a bit weakened since the spell did its job continuously to protect Mai from Ariade-san's spell."

"Why you didn't remove the spell?" Naru watched Lin intently.

"Do you wish that I did otherwise?" Lin retorted before he could be accused of having a hidden motive. He simply hadn't removed it because he had forgotten to. His mountain of paperwork had distracted him.

The Englishman didn't say anything for a while. "No, I don't."

"Where are you going?" Lin stood up as Naru walked towards the door.

Naru's eyes were determined and Lin knew that he was too far gone to be calmed down with tea.

Besides his tea was execrable. That was mainly why Lin never made Naru tea.

"Hospital," Naru said shortly and tried to grab Mai's key from Lin, but the taller man held it out of his reach. "Lin."

"I will be confiscating it for now."

Lin's job was to keep Naru out of harm's way including the harm he could bring on himself.

"That's Mai's key. Not yours."

The room temperature was starting to drop with each second that passed.

"Exactly," Lin concurred. "You have no rights to keep it."

Naru smirked victoriously. "I'm Mai's boss. I have the right to it."

Suddenly the key flew out of Lin's grip and into his hand.

"Noll!" Lin bellowed at him for careless use of PK. He could a headache developing. Naru's stubbornness was on a similar level to Mai's and it made him want to throttle him.

"A little PK won't kill me, Lin," he replied casually and opened the door. Lin followed behind him.

After this case, Lin promised to himself that he would call Noll's parents.

Maybe telling them that their son had a crush on a girl would give them some excitement.

Especially Luella.

Luella will be delighted.

Lin will be there to watch his ward suffer.


	20. Chapter 19 (New Author)

**NIGHTMARE SCHOOL:**

 **CHAPTER 19:**

"Eh? Shibuya-san?" Michiru was the first to notice Naru and Lin in the lobby of the hospital. "And Lin-san?"

Keiko looked up and there was their ex-crush.

"Good evening, Shibuya-san, Lin-san," she slightly bowed to them. "Are you here to visit Mai-chan?"

The two men in black bowed back and answered in the affirmative.

Keiko and Michiru had been visiting their best friend and now they were about to leave. To be honest, they were sad that Mai's condition was worse every time they visited her.

Sometimes they blamed themselves for not paying attention more to her. But being in a different class made it difficult for them to see Mai.

They knew Mai wasn't comfortable with her new class and not because she had to socialise with new people. Mai was a kind-hearted person and everybody loved to be her friend.

Mai's class had been strange from the start and they had known that a class like that wasn't meant for her.

Therefore, the two of them had always invited her to have lunch in their classroom or the canteen or on the benches outside. But after a few lunches, she hadn't turned up and they had become worried about her. Every time they saw her, she acted like she was on edge.

They hadn't been friends since middle school for nothing. Something was wrong and Mai wouldn't tell them what was wrong. She always told them not to worry about her and promised to explain everything later.

Their only hope at saving Mai was in front of them. They knew Mai was still in love with the jerk. Anyone could see that, but he chose to be blind.

"Shibuya-san, have you made any progress with Mai-chan's case?" Keiko questioned.

"Yes, we have."

That was his short answer.

"And?"

Michiru wanted to pry for some information even though his eyes were piercing her like he was ready to slaughter them for delaying him.

"We will finish this case as soon as possible."

That still wasn't the answer they wanted.

"When that supposed to be?" Keiko's tone was laced with desperation. "She is getting worse by the day. She looks more like a corpse every time we see her."

Michiru elbowed her sharply and Keiko realised that Naru's mood was now even darker than before.

"Actually, can I ask you two some questions?" Naru requested.

"We'll do anything to help Mai-chan," Michiru said and Keiko nodded fervently.

Naru narrowed his eyes. He had a vague theory that he wanted to test by asking them certain questions.

"Do you know Hisakawa Momiji-san?"

They frowned at his question and then looked at each other in confusion. Naru was almost ready to dismiss the theory.

"Ah! I remember him! He was in our homeroom in first year. Keiko-chan, you should remember him. He sat right behind you," Michiru looked at her friend. "He had curly hair with a mole under his right eye."

"Hmm… behind me?" Keiko clicked her fingers when she finally remembered him. "Yes! He was a shy boy, but he was smart. He helped me with my homework once."

Michiru nodded eagerly and then her face fell.

"You know, I heard he went missing."

Naru found his opening there. "How?"

"I don't know. One day he was there and the next he was gone like a puff of smoke. No one found him. There was a rumour that he had been bullied, but there wasn't any evidence for that."

"Is he related to the case?" Keiko asked when she realised that Naru was staring at them with a hawk like gaze.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Naru nodded his head at her and didn't bother to answer her question.

He walked past them without much care due to the many thoughts going around inside his head. Their information had been mostly what he had expected, although it hadn't been quite enough to verify his theory. He needed a little more.

Lin frowned at Naru's rude attitude. He was fully aware along with everyone else, that Naru did have some special feelings for Mai and was on edge because of that personal sentiment, but it didn't excuse his bad manners.

Keiko was shocked at Naru's dismissal and Michiru wasn't willing to stand there and take it. She clenched her hand into tight fists. For heaven's sake, they were the clients and had the right to be treated with respect.

Michiru turned around and called out to him.

"Shibuya-san."

Her cold tone stopped Naru in his tracks. If they weren't Mai's friends, he wouldn't have bothered to stop.

He turned to face his clients and waited impatiently to hear what Michiru had to say.

The school girl stared him down bravely.

"If you fail to bring Mai-chan back, I will make it my personal mission to hunt you down. Remember, this all happened because you never trusted Mai-chan before so she didn't tell you anything before it was too late."

For a second there was pain visible in his eyes, but it disappeared as fast as it came.

"Are you done?" was his reply.

Without any further comment, Naru continued on his way to the lift leaving them staring after him.

He wasn't surprised by Michiru's threat nor was he scared, but he did think about what it would be like if he failed to bring Mai back. It would be ironic if the first case he couldn't solve was the one that killed the person most important to him.

Lin didn't speak until they got into the empty lift.

"You know, I won't help you if she really hunts you down."

Naru glanced over at him without saying anything. He didn't answer the question as he was pondering what he would become if Mai's life slipped away from him.

* * *

"Are you going to tell me what you are hiding from your team?" Lin asked from his seat by Mai's bed.

The first thing he had done when he'd got there was to check Mai's charm. Sadly, it had weakened and he'd had to rectify it again. He didn't like how fast it was degenerating although he was glad it was still protecting Mai.

Ayako wasn't present as she had duties elsewhere in the hospital.

"Lin, you don't need to be here," Naru said.

Naru felt Lin's gaze strongly even though Lin's visible eye was focused on his laptop.

"I'd rather play it safe, thank you."

"I've already said that I won't use my psychometry. In fact, I said it twice," Naru argued with clenched teeth.

"I would have believed you before," Lin told him. "Then you met Taniyama-san and you put yourself in danger for her more than once."

Naru didn't answer and looked over at Mai's heart monitor. It was beeping at a steady rate, but it was too slow to be a normal heartbeat.

"We all know that your affection towards her can make your brain melt like butter," Lin commented casually.

The younger man turned to face his bodyguard with a hard frown.

"Excuse me?"

It wasn't like Lin to pry into his business.

Lin looked at him with a disappointed expression.

"You still haven't realised your feelings towards her?"

"And what are my feelings towards Mai?"

Sometimes Naru questioned why his life was full of people who liked to interfere in his personal affairs.

"Love of course."

"Don't be ridiculous," his denial came fast.

The Chinese man knew his ward well enough to have expected the denial and simply shrugged.

"My eyes work well enough to see your interactions with Taniyama-san."

"What kind of interactions gave you the impression that I love her?"

She loves Gene anyway, Naru though darkly.

Lin's mouth twitched like he was fighting the urge to smile.

"You tease her everyday like a normal school-boy, help with her problems, protect her from harm and worry about her if she's late."

Lin was more observant than Naru had given him credit for.

"I'm her boss. She's my responsibility."

That answer had always been his shield.

"You can't even live without her tea and ask for it every half an hour," Lin continued on. "That is what some people would call 'flirting'."

Naru almost blanched at that term.

"I have never flirted with her."

"Yes, you have," Lin insisted. "Remember to keep your temper in check."

"Are we really talking about my non-existent love life?"

Lin grabbed his cup of cold coffee from the table.

"I'm just stating the truth."

"Will you shut up about that if I tell you about my theory?" Naru spat out the question.

He was done with Lin's roundabout persuasion technique.

"I thought we were going to have to talk until your hormones became the subject of conversation," Lin said.

Talking about Naru's love life wasn't Lin's area. He would have rather let Naru work it out on his own. However, he needed to know what Naru was thinking to prevent him from doing anything rash.

Pushing Naru a little to realise his feelings wouldn't hurt anyone as well.

Naru was internally groaning at the conversation subject. It was hardly the right time to bring something like that up. They had much more important matters to be discussing. If he was lucky, Lin would take the hint and end the conversation.

Lin waited for a couple of minutes, but Naru remained silent so he took the initiative.

"You know, when a man-"

"I think Ariade-sensei placed a spell on the school and not the people. Therefore, when they leave the school grounds, they can remember the missing students," Naru said quickly.

They both sighed in unison. Finally, the topic was back on the right track.

Lin considered it for a minute and found the flaws in the theory.

"But that doesn't explain Hirai-san being unable to remember her missing classmates. Additionally, why haven't we forgotten the missing victims when we've been in the school?"

"Maybe it's because we aren't officially linked to the school- we're not students or teachers. As for the other question, it is the missing piece of the puzzle. I'm not sure if I'm right about it or not- that's why I didn't tell the others. I cannot afford to be wrong in this case."

"It's still worth a shot," Lin noted "Did Gene say where Ariade-san performed the spell?"

"No, he didn't." He cursed himself for not asking. "Can your shiki find the place by tracing the residue of the spell?"

"Yes, if he recently did it. It could take some time. My shikis know where is something wrong with the school, but they haven't found the source."

Naru frowned. "It would be hard to find it. Ariade-sensei isn't stupid."

His gaze shifted to Mai.

"I agree with that sentiment, but I will try sending my shiki out for a search."

Naru nodded, but never moved his gaze from Mai.

"You should tell everyone about this," Lin said and started typing again. "They are your team and friends of Taniyama-san. They deserve to know the full details of the case and of her condition."

"I have my own reasons."

Lin shook his head at the return of Naru's bad habit.

"Your reasons are nowhere near as strong as they were before when you had to hide your true identity."

He shut down his laptop and closed it.

Naru glared at him in return. "I don't need any more of your advice."

Lin ignored the cold tone and rose to leave.

"I will give you time with Taniyama-san. I'll be in the van. You can't stay here too long because you have school tomorrow and we need to discuss our next steps at the apartment later."

Lin was out the door before Naru could reply. Naru lost his façade after Lin left the room. He stopped resisting the urge to hold her hand and placed his thumb on the inside of her wrist to feel her pulse.

He was tempted to use his psychometry to obtain more information, but it would get him into trouble with Lin who would scold him. Or worse, he would call his parents or Madoka.

Outside Mai's hospital room, Lin's gaze met with some sharp eyes. He was startled by the sight even though his blank face didn't show it. He hadn't predicted them to be here when he had just thought about them.

He needs a raise.

* * *

"Ple… elp… us…"

The whisper from the distance bothered Mai's nap. She needed sleep badly and chose to ignore the sound.

"…yama-san… e… ed… ur… hel…"

Her tired soul wanted to ignore the voice.

"TANIYAMA-SAN!"

The loud voice surprised Mai to the core and caused her to open her eyes wide. Now that she was awake Mai was able to note that there was more than one voice speaking.

Mai sat up and her jaw fell.

All hell is about to break loose.


End file.
